Playing in the MLS affected my Black Stars career - Jonathan Mensah

Ghana and Columbus Crew defender Jonathan Mensah believes playing in the Major League Soccer contributed vastly to his exclusion from the national team.

Mensah, a member of the 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup-winning team has been out of the Black Stars for the past two years and, according to him, the misconception about the Major League Soccer gave rise to his Black Stars snub.

The budding defender last played for Ghana during the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt.

Despite his outstanding performance in the United States, he has been consistently overlooked and has observed the perceived notion that the league is 'weak' has contributed to his few call ups.

“Looking back at my career in France, one of the top leagues in the world, I was in a tough situation at that time with a couple of injuries," he told citisports.

“I played just about 50 games in my 4 or 5 years in France. But I still played lots of games with the national team, because wherever there was a call up I was always fit,” he added.

“I’ve played over 100 games during my time in the MLS and I haven’t received too many call-ups. I really don’t know where talk of the league being weak is coming from. I don’t believe that narrative."

He won the 2020 MLS trophy with Columbus Crew and was named among the best 11 in the league.