Ghanaian sports broadcaster Patrick Osei Agyemang, affectionately known as Countryman Songo, lashed out at Black Stars head coach Otto Addo, claiming that the manager is lazy.
Songo criticized the gaffer for naming St. Gallen goalkeeper Lawrence Ati-Zigi in the latest Black Stars squad for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.
According to him, naming Ati-Zigi in the Black Stars squad indicates that the manager does not put effort into scouting but rather sticks to familiar names and recycles them for his call-ups.
"If Lawrence Ati-Zigi is considered our best goalkeeper and number one option, then the coach is lazy. It means he does not do any scouting; he is not searching for players."
"I don't understand, did the coach do scouting? There is no local player apart from the goalkeeper (Frederick Asare). The foreign-based players he called are not that good, but they always call them."
Songo also expressed concerns about only one local player making the list, which happens to be a goalkeeper.
He said the football administrators should bow their heads in shame regarding the decline of the local league.
"There is no local player. Are you not ashamed that the league has declined to the extent that no local player could play for the Black Stars? Some players are there not because they are good but because of their names."
Otto Addo named his 23-man squad, comprising 3 goalkeepers, 8 defenders, 5 midfielders, and 7 forwards, on Thursday, August 29, 2024.
The Black Stars will host Angola in Kumasi on September 5, 2024, before visiting Niger on September 9.
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