Some football fans at Keta in the Volta Region have expressed optimism about the current crop of players invited to face Chad and Madagascar in the upcoming FIFA World Cup qualifying matches.
They said the players have the potential to deliver and qualify the team to the next year’s global competition.
The fans’ enthusiasm was palpable with many expressing their confidence in the team’s ability to overcome their opponents, while others also believed that the team is strong enough for the crucial games ahead.
Setor Kumasah, a local football enthusiast, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency, said that the players invited were hungry for success to give it their best and everything to make Ghana proud.
“I think all the players invited deserved to be there, and per the criteria for player selection, all of them are doing well in their respective clubs and l strongly hope that they will pick six maximum points from the two games,” he said.
He urged all Ghanaians to support for the Black Stars to qualify for the World Cup, adding that, “The players faced a lot of criticism last few months ago from the fans, especially due to their inability to qualify the team to the 2025 AFCON in Morocco, and they need our support now to make it to the World Cup.”
Meanwhile, Black Stars Coach Otto Addo, on Friday, announced a 23-man squad for the qualifiers which include three goalkeepers, nine defenders, five midfielders and six attackers with only three players from the domestic league.
The squad list include Lawrence Ati-Zigi of FC St.Gallen with Joseph Wollacott and Benjamin Asare of Crawley Town and Heart of Oak respectively for the goalkeeping department.
Defenders include Gideon Mensah (AJ Auxerre), Ebenezer Annan (Red Star Belgrade), Mahama Salisu (AS Monaco), Jerome Opoku (Istanbul Basaksehir), Alexander Djiku (Fenerhce), Jonas Adjetey (FC Basel), Razak Simpson (Nations FC), Kingsley Schindler (Samsunspor) and Kamaradini Mamudu (Medeama SC)
For the midfield department, has Thomas Partey (Arsenal), Elisha Owusu (AJ Auxerre), Abu Francis (Cercle Brugge), Kudus Mohammed (West Ham United) and Ernest Nuamah (Olympique Lyon) were invited.
Antoine Semenyo (AFC Bournemouth), Kamal Deen Sulemana (Southampton), Jordan Ayew (Leicester City), Jerry Afriyie (CD Lugo) Inaki Williams (Athletic Bilbao) and Christopher Bonsu Baah (Genk) were also invited to serve in the department of the team’s attacking force.
Some notable players such as Alidu Saidu, Joseph Aidoo, Abdul Fatawu Issahaku, Baba Iddrisu, Ibrahim Sulemana, Majeed Ashimeru, Abdul Mumin, Tariq Lamptey, Joseph Painstil among others could not make the squad due to various degrees of injuries suffered in their respective clubs and were yet to recover.
The team is expected to regroup and begin preparations on Monday, March 17, for Group I fixtures against Chad at Accra Sports Stadium on Friday, March 21, before travelling to Morocco to face Madagascar on Monday, March 24.
Comoros and Ghana are currently first and second in Group I standings with 9 points each while Madagascar, Mali, Central African Republic and Chad have 7, 5, 4 and zero points respectively in that order on the table.
The fans are full of hope that Black Stars without some regular players will still capitalize on home advantage against Chad before travelling to Morocco for the next fixture.
The team with most points from each group will automatically qualify for 2026 FIFA World Cup that will be co-hosted by Canada, USA and Mexico.