Ghana to Call Pros for Zambia Tie

GHANA will consider a minimum of three foreign-based players for the December 20 Olympic qualifier against Zambia.

British Broadcasting Corporation correspondent in Ghana Michael oti Adjei said yesterday the Ghana under-23 would start preparing for the game after the last round of league matches on Sunday.

"There has been very little talk about the Zambia game but I know the squad is grouping after the last round of league matches in Ghana on Sunday," he said.

He said likely to be considered was Isaac Boakye who plays in the German second division.

Boakye played for the Black Stars [Ghana's senior team] and scored twice in the 7-0 aggregate win over Somalia in the 2006 world and African cup qualifiers.

"There could also be defender John Mensah who plays for Chievo Verona in the Italian Serie A . He has played almost every game for Ghana at the senior level in the last two years," he said.

He said another player likely to make it is Yakubu Abubakari, a regular member of Ajax Amsterdam where he has been during the last five years and also a member of the Black Stars.

He said that players from Kumasi Asante Kotoko and Hearts of Oak would dominate the local component of the team.

The team is coached by German, Ralf Zumdick who also handles the Black Stars.

Zumdick has already described the Zambia game as very important for the team and Ghana's bid to qualify for the Olympics.

Ghana failed to qualify for the 2000 edition in Sydney but have the reputation of having won Africa's first ever medal in football at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona.

Ghana were also quarter-finalists at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, losing to Brazil at that stage.

However, Zambia, who last appeared at the Olympic games in 1988, lost their first Olympic qualifier 1-0 to Algeria while Ghana beat South Africa by the same margin.