The Black Stars of Ghana will commence their journey to Morocco AFCON 2025 today when they line up against the Palencas Negras of Angola in an opening qualifier at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium.
It will be the Stars’ first appearance after beating Mali and the Central Africa Republic (CAR) in FIFA World Cup Qualifiers.
Having performed abysmally in recent AFCONs, the team will be under pressure to overturn their fortunes at the Morocco showpiece to end the long AFCON drought.
Coach Otto Addo and his technical staff perfectly understands the situation and are battle-ready for the Angolans who are also bent of registering an upset in front of the home fans.
In achieving that feat, Coach Otto Addo announced a 24-man team to battle the Angolans and Niger in four days’ time.
With the major leagues on a short break, Coach Addo had his first training session on Monday at the Accra Sports Stadium with 10 players in attendance.
The numbers improved the following day with 22 players filling the the Baba Yara Sports Stadium in readiness for the clash.
Players that trained on Tuesday were goalkeepers, Lawrence Ati-Zigi, Frederick Asare, Joseph Wollacott, Abdul Fatawu Issahaku, Thomas Partey, Antoine Semenyo, Brandon Thomas-Asante, Ebenezer Annan, Jonas Adjetey, Tariq Lamptey, and Ibrahim Osman.
The rest were Inaki Williams, Joseph Painstil, Abdul Mumin, Jerome Opoku, Kingsley Schindler, Alidu Seidu, Majeed Ashimeru, Abu Francis, Mohammed Salisu, Forson Amankwah and Mohammed Kudus.
The likes of Jordan Ayew and Elisha Owusu joined their colleagues yesterday to leave Otto Addo with a full squad for the match, the Stars must win to start on a positive note.
It would not be an easy task for the Ghanaians considering the current form of the Angolans most of who ply their trade in some of the finest leagues across Europe.
BY ANDREW NORTEY