South Africa announce Ghana friendly ahead of AFCON 2019

South Africa have announced they will be playing Ghana in an international friendly as part of preparations for the Africa Cup of Nations tournament in Egypt.

The friendly is scheduled to take place in Dubai but a date is yet to be announced. The Black Stars were initially booked to play their West African counterparts Nigeria but the warm up game was called off a few days ago.

According to Bafana Bafana coach Stuart Baxter, there will be two separate squads – one to prepare for COSAFA and the other for AFCON – and he said both would be competitive.

The AFCON squad will play one international friendly in South Africa before leaving for a comprehensive and longer camp in Dubai where some of the players from COSAFA will join the AFCON team.

In Dubai, Bafana Bafana will play the Black Stars before heading to Egypt where another friendly match against a North African side is on the cards, EWN is reporting.

Ghana have been handed an opening game at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations tournament against Benin. The Black Stars have also been paired with defending champions Cameroon and Guinea Bissau in Group F.

The top two teams from the group will automatically progress to the knockout stage, while the third-placed side will have to finish among the four best third-placed sides from all the groups to make the next round.

Ghana are four-time champions and last annexed the diadem in Libya 1982.