Black Stars defender Gideon Mensah has shown a calm demeanor regarding the withdrawal of eight teammates from the squad ahead of the upcoming African Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers against Angola and Niger.
On Monday, the Ghana Football Association(GFA) revealed that eight players have withdrawn from the squad for the final two AFCON qualifiers, a situation Mensah acknowledges as a significant loss.
“For me, I think, first of all, every player in the national team is very crucial to the team. And then obviously, we have players that we are always looking up to see in the national team, and we have players that are also there to support when other players are not there. It’s a big loss for us.”
Despite this setback, Mensah remains optimistic, believing that the team has other capable players ready to step up as they prepare to secure victories in the matches.
“But also at this time, at the end of the day, we still have a team to cover up. And then I’m not really scared about that. So when one is not there, another person is ready to play for me,” he added.
The players who have withdrawn include Antoine Semenyo, Tariq Lamptey, Inaki Williams, Osman Ibrahim, Jereme Opoku, Alexander Djiku, Jonas Adjetey, and Joseph Paintsil, with seven citing injuries and Paintsil citing personal reasons.
In their place, coach Otto Addo has called up Osman Bukari (Austin FC), Ransford Yeboah Koningsdorffer (Hamburger SV), Forson Amankwah (Norwich City), Terry Yegbe (IF Elfsborg), Ebenezer Annan (OFK Beograd), and Kingsley Schindler (Samsunspor).
Ghana is set to face Angola at Estadio 11 de Novembro in Luanda on Friday, November 15, 2024, followed by a match against Niger at the Accra Sports Stadium.
The Black Stars currently sit in third place in Group F with two points, trailing behind Sudan, who has seven points, and Angola, who leads with twelve points.
To qualify for the 2025 AFCON in Morocco, Ghana needs to win both of their matches and also rely on Sudan to slip up.
