Appiah and Essien miss Ghana friendlies

Ghana captain Stephen Appiah and midfielder Michael Essien have withdrawn from friendly matches against Austria and Brazil because of injury, the Ghana Football Association Web site (www.ghahafa.org) reported.

Appiah had pulled out because of a thigh strain suffered playing for his Turkish club Fenerbahce at the weekend while Essien had not recovered from a knee injury. No immediate replacements were named by coach Claude LeRoy.

Ghana meet Austria in Graz on Saturday and play Brazil in Stockholm next Tuesday.