Jones considers Stars trio

Cecil Jones Attuquayefio, coach of the male Olympics team says he intends inviting some foreign-based players into the Black Meteors squad.

The Black Meteors have been preparing for their first leg of their Zone III qualifier against the Ivory Coast next month for qualification to the 9th All African Games to be hosted by Algeria.

The Black Meteors technical handlers have now settled on three players who also feature for the senior team, the Black Stars, they intend roping into the Olympic side.

?We are looking at three players to revamp the team for now.

?We have penciled down Haminu Dramani, Asamoah Gyan and Habib Mohammed of the Black Stars fame. All of them are qualified to play in the Olympics team.

?Other foreign based players will also be considered for justifies in the subsequent programmes.

?We intend to select the best to qualify for the All African Games and the Olympics Games and either reach the ultimate or be closer to the ultimate,? he said in an interview with GFA News, the FA?s official newspaper.

Jones and his backroom staff who have been working with some thirty-eight players would be pruning the squad to twenty-five before moving into the next phase of preparations.

Read the full text of Cecil Jones Attuquayefio?s interview with GFA News below:

Have you been enjoying training

Jones Attuquayefio: Training is going on smoothly and our main priority is to select suitable players for the Black Meteors which is more or less a nursery side for the senior national team, the Black Stars. We now have 38 players in camp and we will prune it down to 25 as training progresses. We also intend to play many competitive matches to access the players before we get the desired players.

What?s the level of co-operation between the club?s and the national handlers

Jones Attuquayefio: Yes, the clubs have really cooperated with us and we owe them thorns of appreciation for their understanding. They (clubs) grant us about three days of full training from Monday - Thursday to train with the boys before releasing them for the weekend league matches.

Are you bothered by the results chalked so far in your trial games

Jones Attuquayefio: I must say that the technical team of the Meteors are engaging in series of quality friendlies not because of the results but the exercise is only aimed at getting the 25 needed players in order to impact real tactical lessons on them as we approach the forthcoming assignments.

How will you rate the general output of the players in camp

Jones Attuquayefio: Generally the players are responding very well but even though some players have been very good with their respective clubs, they are yet to click with their new colleagues in camp. But I hope they will over come that as soon as possible. We have set our selves a deadline and if those players fail to respond in time, there will be no choice than to axe them from the squad.

You have a tall list of 38 players, how many of them do you consider as tried and tested

Jones Attuquayefio: Almost 20 of them are doing consistently well with their various teams in the local league and such players are very popular, I believe others will also make the grade before the deadline.

Talking about the players, what is their level of discipline

Jones Attuquayefio: Initially some players were suspended for late arrivals in camp but that served as a deterrent and lateness to camp have been seized. Excerpt that the players have shown some sense of discipline in the camp.

Are you considering inviting some foreign based players into the team

Jones Attuquayefio: We are looking at three players to revamp the team for now. We have penciled down Haminu Dramani, Asamoah Gyan and Habib Mohammed of the Black Stars fame. All of them are qualified to play in the Olympics team. Other foreign based players will also be considered for justifies in the subsequent programmes. We intend to select the best to qualify for the All African Games and the Olympics Games and either reach the ultimate or be closer to the ultimate.

What are your immediate targets the team

Jones Attuquayefio: Our initial preparations were geared towards the Olympics qualifiers in February but the All African Games qualifiers came at the eleven hour but we have no choice than to tackle both assignments with all our minds and our hearts.

How do you rate your chances against the Ivory Coast

Jones Attuquayefio: We all cannot underestimate the strength of each other. I believe as we are worried about them, they are also worried about meeting us.

Are you haunted by the fact that the Ivorians eliminated this generation of players in the 2005 African Youth Championships qualifiers

Jones Attuquayefio: Yes, it does but I am sure this will offer us a challenge to make amends since that year is not the same year now and this era will surely be used to turn things around.

What about the Nigerians, they?ve draw a bye

Jones Attuquayefio: The Nigerians may have gotten their Olympics team in place long time ago but we have talented players who can match them boot for boot with the required tactical ingredients.

You find yourself in your tough group

Jones Attuquayefio: Very well but I believe it is a motivating factor to ginger my charges on to perform well.

Does the exit of the Black Satellites from the African Youth Championship put pressure on you

Jones Attuquayefio: I think there is a big pressure on us to perform creditably after the failure of the Black Satellites. We were expecting to make a mark with the starlets, satellites and the Queens as a follow up to the exploits of the Black Stars but unfortunately the Satellites could not keep the heat on. This has really put a lot of pressure on us to lift the gloom

Concerns have been raised about our inability to produce potent goal scorers, do you share that perception

Jones Attuquayefio: There are players with the nose for goals and players who are goal scorers but not potent enough to score in every situation. We have fallen short of players with the nose for goals and those who score intermittently is also a problem but as a team it takes a combined efforts of defenders, midfielders and attackers to win or score goals in matches. I believe combined efforts of a team will always bring us victory but that is not to rule out the possibility or the need to have somebody with goal scoring instinct. We can not be perfect but we will get closer to perfection.

What message do you have Ghanaians

Jones Attuquayefio: People are not happy for our inability to win matches now but our current preparations are not a matter of winning matches but a matter of selecting quality players for the forthcoming assignment. After the team selection exercises Ghanaians will appreciate the good work done by the technical. We are also calling for their support in order to reciprocate the performance of the Black Stars.