Cranes coach Micho Sredojevic will be delighted Ghana will have to negotiate the final two 2015 Nations Cup qualifying games without captain and top scorer Asamoah Gyan as well as influential midfielder Kwadwo Asamoah.
Ofcourse Coach Micho’s men will also take on Ghana on without dependable leftback Godfrey Walusimbi, who will be serving his one-match ban for accumulated two yellow cards but Brian Majwega on Sunday proved a good replacement.
Ghana’s pair have been excluded from coach Maxwell Konadu’s squad for the trip to Kampala to face Uganda and the home tie against Togo that will determine whether Ghana or Uganda will book a place at the biennal African football showpiece which is in doubt itself.
Gyan has been out since picking up a knee injury at clubside Al Ain in late October while Asamoah hobbled off with an inflammation of the knee in midweek that his club side Juventus say will take two weeks to heal.
In the absence of Gyan, Maxwell Konado has sprung a major surprise by calling up Saudi Arabia based Emmanuel Osei Banahen. There is also no place in the squad for Frank Acheampong who has been terrific this season for Anderlecht especially in their high profile games against Arsenal in the European Champions League.
Gyan’s absence also leaves a gaping hole in attack with the captain having contributed three goals in qualifying in four games for the Black Stars already. And with Jordan Ayew suspended and Majeed Warris lacking on goal scoring form, the trip to Kampala on Saturday could prove testing for the Black Stars.
Another area of concern has to be goalkeeping where Norway-based Adam Kwarasey is still unavailable after his major public fall-out with the technical team. Instead the goalkeeping slot goes to Fatau Dauda and Stephen Adams who have barely at club level in the last four months and Razak Braimah, based in Spain.
Uganda must beat Ghana at Namboole to maintain their slim hopes of qualifying for next year’s Nations Cup. The Black Stars will begin training in Accra on Tuesday and travel to Kampala on Thursday ahead of Saturday’s game. Ghana top standings with eight points, followed by Togo on six. Uganda and Guinea have four apiece with two games left to play. The top two in Group E will qualify for the finals in Morocco in January.
Ghana squad
Goalkeepers: Fatau Dauda (AshGold), Adams Stephen (Aduana Stars) and Razak Braimah (Mirandes FC, Spain)
Defenders: Yaw Frimpong (TP Mazembe, DR Congo), Harrison Afful (Esperance FC, Tunisia), Awal Mohammed (Maritzburg, South Africa), Baba Rahman (FC Augsburg, Germany), Jeffery Schlupp (Leicester City, England), John Boye (Erciyesspor, Turkey), Kwabena Adusei (Mpumalanga Black Aces, South Africa) and Jonathan Mensah (Evian, France)
Midfielders: Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu (Udinese, Italy), Rabiu Mohammed (Krasnodar, Russia), Mubarak Wakaso (Celtic, Scotland), Atsu Christian (Everton, England), Asante Solomon (T.P. Mazembe, DR Congo), Gyimah Edwin (Mpumalanga Black Aces, South Africa), Afriyie Acquah (Parma FC, Italy) Andre Ayew (Olympique Marseille, France)
Strikers: Jordan Ayew (Lorient, France), Abdul-Majeed Waris (Trabzonspor, Turkey), David Accam (Helsenborg, Sweden), Emmanuel Osei Banahene, (Al Orobah, Saudi Arabia)
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