An Executive Council member of the Ghana Football Association [GFA], Frederick Acheampong, says was surprised and questioned why Baba Rahman was selected ahead of Gideon Mensah in the final group game against Uruguay.
Rahman who plays for English Championship side Reading FC, played poorly in the Black Stars ‘ opening game against Portugal and was slammed and criticised for his uninspiring performance as Ghana suffered a 3:2 loss.
The England -based left-back was thus, dropped in the second group game against South Korea. Gideon Mensah put up a decent performance as the team recorded a 3-2 win.
In Ghana’s final group match, Rahman surprisingly made a return to the team against Uruguay. Ahead of the game, the Black Stars needed a draw to seal a place in the last 16 but suffered a 2-0.
Football fans in Ghana became very livid with the technical team’s decision and the performance of the Dreams FC defender.
Speaking in an interview, Frederick Acheampong, a former AshantiGold SC CEO disclosed that he questioned why Gideon Mensah was benched for Baba Rahman to make a return to the starting lineup.
“I was asked whether I was happy with what I saw and I said I feel that, for instance, in our game against Portugal the coach made some instant substitutions after we equalised which, I think, brought the momentum of the team down and Portugal capitalised on that to beat us,” he told Graphic Sports.
“Even in our last game against Uruguay, I didn’t expect to see Baba Rahman because I saw Gideon Mensah who played in our second game and we won, so Ghanaians were expecting that he would start,” he pointed out.
“So, when I saw Baba Rahman I asked people close to the team and I was told that the coach said he wanted to attack and Baba Rahman was the best left-back when it comes to offensive play,” he concluded.
