I'm personally excited about Alexander Djiku's nationality switch - C.K Akonnor

Black Stars coach, Charles Akonnor, on Friday evening named his 23 man squad to face Mali in an international friendly game in Turkey.

The coach handed debuts to five players namely  France based Alexander Djiku who plays for Strasbourg, Yakubu Mohammed of Azam FC in Tanzania, Benson Anang of MSK Zilina in Slovakia, Emmanuel Lomotey of Amiens in France and youngster Kamal Deen who plays for Danish side Nordsjaelland

Montpellier born Alexander Djiku is of Ghanaian and Senegalese descent and currently plays for French Ligue 1 side Strausbourg.

Coach of the Black Stars, C.K. Akonnor, could not hide his joy after getting the player to switch nationality to Ghana.

"I am personally excited about him because, at a point in time, we were not sure if he wanted to come. He didn’t have a problem switching nationality but the decision to come to play. Now he has decided to come and so I am very much excited about it."

Djiku spent his youth career at Bastia. He played for the reserve team until 2014 when he was promoted to the senior team. After spending three years at the club, he joined Caen. Djiku made his debut in a Coupe de la Ligue match against Évian in December 2013