Black Stars assistant coach Mas-ud Didi Dramani has clarified the absence of home-based players from Ghana’s squad for the upcoming 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Angola.
Ghana and Angola will face off twice this month, with the first match scheduled for March 23 in Kumasi. The second game will be held in Luanda on March 27, just four days after the first encounter.
Didi Dramani explained that the Black Stars need players who are consistently performing at the highest level to achieve the desired results, which is why no local player was included in the squad.
He further stated that Chris Hughton’s goal is to maintain and improve on the squad that represented Ghana at the 2022 World Cup.
“I think it goes with consistency and closeness of games. It is very important not to overstate that he (Chris Hughton) releases his squad and then no local player is in there. I think when we start doing that, then I think we are pre-empting on the negativities and I think that we are paying much attention to the local league as you can see me coming out to watch a lot of the games,” he said in an interview with Citi FM.
“When you look at the team, it is made up of a consistent squad, and we want to remain consistent when the decision not to invite any local player,” he added.
Black Stars are currently leading Group E of the qualifiers with four points, followed by Angola who are also on four points. Central African Republic and Madagascar are in 3rd and 4th place, respectively.
