Osam to cast net wider

THE head coach of the Black Stars, Mr Fred Osam-Duodu has reviewed his policy of limiting the number of foreign-based players he intended inviting for observation prior to the Mali 2002 Africa-Nations Cup tournament next January.

This move has been necessitated by the excellent performances being exhibited by most of the Ghanaian professionals playing their trade in Europe.

Speaking to the Graphic in an interview yesterday, the seasoned trainer revealed that he has been compelled to cast his net wider to cover all the foreign-based players currently playing well instead of narrowing the selection scope to just a few of them.

According to him, he initially had in mind of inviting only ten foreign-based players in preparation for the biennial continental parade, only to revise his notes later considering the current turn of events.

Even though he did not want to commit himself, he hinted that at least 15 of the foreign component of the Stars would likely be invited to battle for positions with their local counterparts.

Asked to name some of the players who are on his hit list, coach Osam-Duodu noted that it was too early to make any such submissions as he is still holding talks with most of the players.

He, however, indicated that it will include those who helped the team to qualify - Charles Amoah, Emmanuel Duah, Stephen Appiah and Baffour Gyan.

He also made particular mention of two Black Satellites players, Derek Boateng and Michael Essien, who are presently in top flight for Panathinaikos and Bastia respectively.

In spite of this, Osam-Duodu did not hide his determination to build a solid local team as the base.

He burst out his frustration at the late preparation of the Stars as well as the truancy being played by certain local players after being invited to camp, and reiterated his decision to shut the door on any player who refuses to report to camp today.

According to the coach, he had initially fixed the deadline for today but the GFA intervened and impressed upon him to offer a two-day grace period.

He complained bitterly about the behaviour of Kotoko, whom he noted are the only club to have restrained their players from responding to the national call, even though he had earlier notified officials of the club in writing

The local players resumed camping on Monday at the National Sports College at Winneba to prepare for a series of international friendlies which get underway on December 19 against Mexico, away.

The Stars will play Spain on December 25 before engaging Egypt in Cairo on January 4, 2002.

The trials, according to the coach, will be climaxed with a two-leg duel with neighbouring Togo before they finally leave for Mali.