Ghana coach Otto Addo is sweating to get players for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Angola and Niger next week.
After dropping Arsenal midfielder Thomas Partey and stripping him of his captaincy role, several players have picked injuries during the week games in Europe while others have opted to decline the call up due to personal issues they are trying to figure out.
First and foremost, Joseph Paintsil is believed to have turned down the chance to play for Ghana due to personal concerns. Reports suggest that the winger isn’t happy with lack of playing time under Otto Addo as he has constantly showed that he fancies other players than him.
Also, Bournemouth striker Antoine Semenyo has asked to be excused from the games due to an injury he claims to to have picked up during the 3-2 defeat to Brentford in Premier League on Saturday.
Iñaki Williams missed Althletic Bilbao’s 1-1 stalemate with Real Valladolid in La Liga and his coach has confirmed that he can’t play for a couple of days if not weeks.
Also, Alexander Djiku came on for Söyuncu and played 76 minutes when Fenerbahce dismantled Sivasspor 4-0 in Turkish Super Lig on Sunday. The centre back claims an injury he picked up which forced Jose Mourinho to replace him with Rodrigo Becaô means that he can’t make it.
Meanwhile, Tariq Lamptey will also be out since he is yet to recover from his injury layoff and even missed Brighton and Hove Albion’s 2-1 victory over Manchester City last weekend.
Other players like Jerome Opoku who is suffering from chronic back pain, just like Adjetey Jonas and Ibrahim Osman, are also going to be out of the qualifiers.
Reports suggest that former Vision FC defender Terry Yegbe who plies his trade for Swedish side Elfsborg has been handed a late call up after his consistent performance in Swedish Allsvenkan and UEFA Europa League.
Many Ghanaians are hoping that several local players in Ghana Premier League will be called to fill the void and justify their inclusion to the coach as Black Stars have crucial games to play next year in 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.
