Coach Kwesi Appiah
Alhaji Mohammed Ahmed Polo, has said he is disappointed in Coach Kwesi Appiah’s decision to drop the two local outfield players from the final 23-man squad for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nation (AFCON) in Egypt.
Coach Kwesi Appiah named two local outfield players, Mohammed Alhassan of Hearts of Oak and Abdul Fataw Shafiu of Kumasi Asante Kotoko in his 29- man squad for the pre-tournament preparations in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), but none of them made it into the final squad for the tournament.
Speaking in an interview with the GNA Sports, the former Black Stars player said, the coach should have encouraged the local players by picking at least one outfield player for the tournament.
“At least one should have been selected if not all of them. I was thinking that he should have encouraged our local players by adding one outfield player to the goalkeeper in the final squad,” he said.
The Dribbling Magician said the decision had already been taken by the coach and he was hoping that the team would go to Egypt, with a united front to defend Ghana and make the nation proud.
“The players should be dedicated, focused, clean and forget about the captaincy issues in camp and they should also play for each other and what we as Ghanaians need to do is to pray and rally behind the team and I think they can bring the trophy home.
“Kwesi Appiah has seen it all and per his experience at the world stage, he should have the confidence to select any player of his choice and also bench any who underperforms because this is a tournament that would produce a champion so the least mistake would cost you,” he added.
The 2019 AFCON is scheduled to kick start on June 11 and Ghana would play their opening game against Benin on June 25, at the Ismailia Stadium.
