Otto Addo to miss Partey, 3 others for Sudan qualifier
Black Stars coach, Otto Addo will confront what appears his biggest task in the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers without four key players.
The Black Stars will lock horns with Sudan in a double-header which outcomes could define their fate as far as qualification to the Morocco showpiece was concerned.
The match has assumed a magnitude previously associated with high profile games against Nigeria and other countries labelled as continental soccer powerhouses.
This can be attributed to two factors including the Stars struggles in recent games and the fact that it would be former Black Stars coach Kwesi Appiah’s first clash against Ghana in the Sudanese saddle.
But sadly for the Ghana coach, he would face the Sudanese without four key players whose absence could have an impact on the team.
Information from the FA corridors indicates that Otto Addo would face the Sudanese without his trusted skipper Thomas Partey of English Premier League side, Arsenal, Joseph Painstil, Kingsley Schindler, and Osman Ibrahim.
They have been ruled out as a result of injuries they sustained in the weekend’s games for their respective clubs in Europe.
It will be a big blow because they were all part of the initial list announced by Coach Otto Addo for the double header.
An FA statement said Partey was unable to join the team due to medical issues he is currently experiencing, and his club has scheduled him for further tests in the coming days.
Paintsil is dealing with hamstrings issues and was scheduled for a Monday MRI scan;
Osman Ibrahim is experiencing pain in his calf muscles while Schindler was unable to join due to a medical emergency he’s currently receiving treatment for.
That notwithstanding, Otto Addo would be required to field a side strong enough to save the Stars blushes ahead of the second leg.
BY ANDREW NORTEY
