Ghana Coach Kwesi Appiah says his decision not to invite Captain Asamoah Gyan and the Ayew Brothers for the Black Stars upcoming double-header friendlies against Japan is to make way for newcomers.
According to him, he holds no grudges with the aforementioned players and that he only failed to invite them just to assess the performance of other less known players who are equally doing well at their respective clubs.
The Swans pair have not featured for the Black Stars since Ghana’s world Cup qualification first leg match against Congo Brazzaville in Kumasi which ended one apiece.
The absence of striker Jordan Ayew is what seems to have shocked Ghanaians considering his sparkling form with Swansea this season.
However, reports in the local media suggest the the Ayew brothers failed to earn invitation for the friendlies as a result of a purported rift between them and the coach.
But Coach Kwesi Appiah has completely rejected the notion that he failed to invite some players particularly the Ayew brothers for the country’s upcoming friendlies as a result of his bad relationship with them in an exclusive interview with SportsworldGhana.com,
”’There are a lot of players I didn’t invite and I didn’t do so because they are not performing” Appiah exclusively told SportsworldGhana.com in an interview.
Appiah further expounded on why he wants to test the new entrants.
”Players like Asamoah Gyan, Jordan Ayew and Andre Ayew are all players who have been tried and texted over the years and Ghanaians and the entire world know what they are capable of doing so I feel this is the perfect opportunity for me to try Emmanuel Boateng and Kwasi Okyere Wriedt in our quest to parade a strong team for our upcoming AFCON qualifying remaining matches.
”This is the only friendly games we have to play before we resume our qualifiers so if you want to try new players then this certainly is the right time to try them ” He concluded.
According to Ghana FA, the two friendly games will fetch the country $450,000 dollars.
Japan hosts the Black Stars at the Nissan, stadium Yokohama on May 30 before facing Euro 2016 wonder side Iceland Laugardarlsvellir on June 7.
Below are the players who will represent Ghana in the friendly games:
Richard Ofori (Maritzburg FC, South Africa) Lawrence Ati Zigi (Sochaux, France) Lumor Abgenyenu (Sporting CP, Portugal) Kyere yiadom Andrews ( Reading, England) Kwasi Okyere (Bayern Munich, Germany) Joseph Attamah (İstanbul Başakşehir F.K., Turkey) Sackey Isaac (Alanyaspor,Turkey) Afriyie Acquah (Torino, Italy) Kassim Nuhu (Young Boys, Switzerland) Dwamena Raphael (FC Zurich, Switzerland) Frank Acheampong (Tianjin Teda, China) Yiadom Boakye (Jiangsu Suning, China) Wakaso Mubarak (Deportivo Alaves) Thomas Partey (Atletico Madrid,Spain) Emmanuel Boateng (Levante, Spain) Gyasi Edwin (CSKA Sofia, Bulgaria) Thomas agyepong (NAC Breda, Holland) Rashid Sumaila ( Al Gharafa, Qatar) Nicholas Opoku (Club African, Tunisia) Nana Ampomah ( Waasland- Beveren, Belgium) Albert Adomah (Aston Villa, England)
