They all turned down the invitations- Coach Malik

Head coach of Ghana’s Olympic Team, Malik ‘Johnny’ Jabir has thrown more light on why he settled on an unusual all-local based squad for the All Africa Games in Congo Brazzaville.

The veteran trainer announced a 20-man squad for the continental multi-sport event, which was basically made up of players from the Ghanaian top flight and the second-tier.

There are misgivings regarding the strength of the squad and the choice of selection by the former Asante Kotoko technical director on his decision to invite any foreign-based player for the competition.

But Malik has explained to Sportscrusader.com that his difficulty in convincing the European clubs to release their players and the complexity in getting clearance essentially ruled out the ‘foreigners’ participation.

“It is not that we didn’t invite any foreign player for our camping. We did invite some but they all turned down the invitations and others were prevented by their clubs from coming and that is why we fell short”, Malik told Sportscrusader.com

“But we won’t just call players just because they play in Europe but because they are active so and that is what we have now”,

“There are also quality players in our league who can do the job better so why not give the the opportunity”, He added

Ghana are the defending champion of the All Africa Games and will face rivals Nigeria, Senegal and Burundi in the group stages in Brazzaville.

Below is the full list of the players who made the cut.

Goalkeepers

1. Richard Ofori -Wa All Stars

2. Eric Ofori Antwi -Kotoko

3. Felix Annan -WAFA

Defenders

4. Amos Acheampong -Utrecht

5. Emmanuel Nti Mensah -New Edubiase

6. Patrick Kojo Asmah – BA United

7.Jeremiah Arkoful -Tema Youth

8.Richard Osei Agyemang -Berekum Chelsea

9.Baba Mensah -Inter Allies

10. Lawrence Lartey -Ashgold

Midfielders

11. Sadiq Alhassan -Wa All Stars

12. Latif Anabila – New Edubiase

13 . Kennedy Ashia -Liberty

14.Tamimu Montari -Liberty

15. Conney Idan -Medeama

16. Kwame Boahene -Medeama

Forwards

17. Dauda Mohammed-Kotoko

18 . Bright Adjei -Tema Youth

19. Richard Gadze -Dwarfs

20. Samuel Tetteh -WAFA