Kwesi Appiah reveals why Ayews and Gyan were dropped for friendlies

Ghana coach Kwesi Appiah has expounded on why he excluded Asamoah Gyan and the Ayew brothers for the Black Stars double-header international friendlies.

Appiah named a 21-man squad for the Black Stars forthcoming friendlies against Japan and Iceland without informing Jordan and his sibling Andre Ayew as well as captain Asamoah Gyan for the games.

The Swans pair have not played for the four-time Africa champions since Ghana’s World Cup qualification first leg match against Congo Brazzaville in Kumasi which ended one apiece while Gyan struggled for game time at his club, Kayserispor in the just ended Turkish Supalig.

"There are a lot of players I didn’t invite and I didn’t do so because they are not performing,” Appiah told SportsworldGhana.com in an interview.

"Players like Asamoah Gyan, Jordan Ayew and Andre Ayew are all players who have been tried and tested over the years and Ghanaians and the entire world know what they are capable of doing so I feel this is the perfect opportunity for me to try Emmanuel Boateng and Kwasi Okyere Wriedt in our quest to parade a strong team for our upcoming AFCON qualifying remaining matches."

"This is the only friendly games we have to play before we resume our qualifiers so if you want to try new players then this certainly is the right time to try them,” he concluded.