Black Meteors coach to hand call-ups foreign players ahead of Togo clash

Michael Osei, assistant coach of the Black Meteors has confirmed that foreign-based players will be handed a call-up to complement the local ones as they prepare to play Togo in the Africa U-23 Championship qualifier on December 18.

Ghana’s U-23 side will play their Togolese counterparts in a doubleheader, with the first leg to be played in Ghana on December 18 and the return leg in Togo on December 22.

According to the former Asante Kotoko trainer, the local players had not played competitively in the last six months and that they lacked match fitness, hence the need to invite foreign players to join the team.

“As part of our plans, we will not rely mostly on the home-based players because there is no competitive match currently and clearly they lack match fitness.

“We are trying to get some of the European players to join the team as soon as possible to adequately prepare for the match ahead,” he noted.

He further explained that inviting the foreign players might not come at an additional cost because most of the players were currently in Ghana,

“We have been lucky some of them are currently in Ghana for holidays so inviting them is not a big deal.

“The head coach, Ibrahim Tanko, knows them very well because he is also the deputy coach for the Black Stars.

“He has been communicating with them and has given them training instructions while they are at home.

“Hopefully, they will join the team next week.”

Currently, the Meteors have 22 local players in camp at the Ghanaman Soccer Centre of Excellence at Prampram since November 30.