What one prominent Ghana soccer authority labelled ”the B team” will line up against Bafana Bafana in a friendly international at the Free State Rugby Stadium in Bloemfontein on Wednesday night.
And the shock assessment appeared accurate enough after the South African Football Association (Safa) released the names of the Black Stars players who were due to arrive at OR Tambo International Airport on Tuesday morning.
Unlike the squad that clinched top place in their World Cup and Africa Cup of Nations third-stage qualifying group over the weekend with a resounding 3-0 win against Lesotho, the South Africa-bound Black Stars contingent consists almost entirely of players based in Ghana.
The squad that faced Lesotho was made up of players based in Europe and included stalwarts of the calibre of Lyon’s John Mensah, Inter Milan’s Sulley Muntari, PSV Eindhoven’s Eric Addo and Fulham’s John Paintsil — all absent from the line-up that will face Bafana.
Ironically, Safa are boasting they have persuaded all Bafana’s top overseas-based players to remain in South Africa for the game in Bloemfontein.
And although Ghana’s renowned captain, Stephen Appiah, has reportedly made a good recovery from a leg injury that kept him out of soccer for the best part of a year and is in the throes of a comeback, the Black Stars’ most celebrated footballer, Chelsea midfielder Michael Essien, is expected to be out of soccer for several more months as a result of injury.
A familiar name in the Ghana squad for the Bloemfontein game, however, is Kaizer Chiefs defender Jonathan Quartey.
And while the Black Stars’ most celebrated footballers will not be in the 19-man squad selected by coach Milovan Rajevac to play Bafana, the contingent of Ghana officials scheduled to make the trip to South Africa looks a good deal more formidable and numbers 17.
All expenses, of course, will be carried by Safa — as well as what is reported to be a hefty match fee for the Ghana B team.
The Ghana squad due in South Africa: Osei Boateng, Joseph Addo, Emmanuel Ansong, David Addy, Harrison Afful, Jonathan Quartey, John Boyle, Isaac Vorsah, Daniel Yeboah, Stephen Appiah, Sam Yeboah, Edmund Ansah,, Kojo Poku, Yaw Antwi, Kwame Quansah, Haminu Draman, Agyemang Badu, Fatau Dauda and Anthony Annan. — Sapa