Ghana suffer major blow in Bellarabi chase

Ghana’s hope of getting Bayer Leverkusen striker Karim Bellarabi to switch nationality and play for the Black Stars has suffered a major blow as Germany have called him up for this month’s European Championship qualifying matches against Poland and Ireland.

The 24-year-old winger, who has racked up two goals and two assists in six Bundesliga outings so far this term, was subject to an interest from Ghana FA officials who were keen on capping him.

That is because his father is from Ghana while his mother is from Morocco which means he is eligible to play for the three countries including Germany where he was born.

But the Ghanaian officials could not make any head way as he has been rewarded for his fine form with a place in Joachim Low’s squad for Euro 2016 qualifiers against Poland and Republic of Ireland.

Bayer Leverkusen winger capped a superb start to the Bundesliga season with a Germany call-up on Thursday for this month’s internationals.

Germany coach Joachim Loew is delighted with the opportunity to cap the youngster to prevent him from playing for Ghana or Morocco insisting he deserves a place in the European country’s squad.

“Karim Bellarabi has earned his chance at his club with some excellent performances,” the Germany boss told reporters on Thursday.

“He is incredibly strong in one-on-one situations and is an excellent alternative in our campaign.”

The 24-year-old Bellarabi, who scored the fastest Bundesliga goal ever on the first matchday this season and has played for Germany’s youth teams, had also been courted by the Moroccan football federation to play for them.

He was in Ghana this summer as the Ghana FA officials were seeking to convince him to play for the Black Stars and he seems to have opted for his country of birth.

Bellarabi is enjoying a breakthrough season and Loew says he is an “excellent option for our attack.”

Germany, who opened their Euro 2016 campaign with a nervy 2-1 win over Scotland, travel to Warsaw to face Poland on October 11 before hosting Republic of Ireland in Gelsenkirchen three days later and Low is taking nothing for granted ahead of a crucial double-header for his side.

Germany Squad

Goalkeepers: Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich), Roman Weidenfeller (Borussia Dortmund), Ron-Robert Zieler (Hannover)

Defenders: Jerome Boateng (Bayern Munich), Erik Durm (Borussia Dortmund), Matthias Ginter (Borussia Dortmund), Mats Hummels (Borussia Dortmund), Shkodran Mustafi (Valencia), Antonio Rudiger (Stuttgart), Sebastian Rudy (Hoffenheim) Midfielders: Karim Bellarabi (Bayer Leverkusen), Julian Draxler (Schalke), Toni Kroos (Real Madrid), Christoph Kramer (Borussia Monchengladbach), Thomas Muller (Bayern Munich), Mesut Ozil (Arsenal), Lukas Podolski (Arsenal), Andre Schurrle (Chelsea)

Forwards: Mario Gotze (Bayern Munich), Max Kruse (Borussia Monchengladbach)