The Ghanaian national team have been preparing in Spain with the aim of going beyond the semi-finals of the competition following several setbacks.
After a brilliant performance at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, the Black Stars of Ghana are now set for another soccer expedition. This time, it is the 30th edition of Africa Cup of Nations in Equatorial Guinea. To qualify for the tournament, the Ghanaian national team was pitted in Group E alongside Guinea, Togo and Uganda.
After 6 matches, they emerged top with 11 points and 11goals scored. This was without Sulley Muntari and Kevin Prince Boateng excluded from the squad following a series of wrangling with the former coach Kwesi Appiah during the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
Since then, the team has witnessed a lot of changes especially at the helm of the technical staff where Avram Grant has been assigned to lead the West African team to their 20th participations at the final phase of the competition. Amongst the great absence from the list are veteran midfielder Michael Essien, who played under Grant at Chelsea. While there have been recalls for Democratic Republic of Congo-based goalkeeper Ernest Sowah, defender Samuel Inkoom from American club Houston Dynamo and Italy-based midfielder Alfred Duncan.
Grant will rely heavily on striker Asamoah Gyan, who plays for United Arab Emirates club Al Ain and made the final five of the 2014 African Footballer of the Year race before being eliminated.
Assisted by Maxull Konadu, Avram Grant has called up 26 players for the ten days training in Seville-Spain that started last Monday. From Spain, the team will fly directly to Equatorial Guinea.
The Black Stars drawn in the widely acknowledged “Group of Death” at the biennial continental tournament will begin their campaign in group C against one of Africa’s soccer household Senegal, then take on the Desert Foxes of Algeria and Bafana Bafana of South in the two other group matches.
