Akonnor now knows his team for Sudan – Michael Osei on Mali, Qatar friendly matches

Former Kumasi Asante Kotoko, Michael Osei has labelled Ghana’s friendly matches against Mali and Qatar as a ‘useful exercise’ that will resource coach Charles Akonnor with enough knowledge about call-ups and approach for next month’s Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Sudan.

Michael Osei disclosed to www.ghanaweb.com that the games have armed Akonnor with insight into how he will set up his team for the qualifier.

“It was a good exercise for Akonnor. Since he came, he hasn’t had an opportunity to play any friendly game so this will help him know how he will go about the next game in Sudan. It’s a good test for him and he will now have ideas about player selection”.

“He brought in some new players and I think this was the right time for him to invite them. Now he as a rough idea of the new players and how to mix them up with the old players” he stated.

In the two matches, the Black Stars lost one and won the other with five goals scored and four conceded. The first game played on Friday ended 3-0 in favour of Mali.

The Black Stars, however, made amends with a 5-1 demolition of Qatar and Michael Osei has praised the team’s performance in that game.

Michael noted that Akonnor’s impact was witnessed in the second game as the team pressed and dominated the game.

He remarked that the team looked more organized and determined in the game against Qatar.

“From the technical perspective, we did very well in the second game in terms of organization, compactness, sharpness, determination and everything. We saw more of these things in the second game than the first game”.

“In the second game, we looked sharp, won more possession, pressed high and created a lot of chances. The second game I think was good for Akonnor. It shows that Akonnor and his team can do well”, he said.