Eight players have withdrawn from the Black Stars squad for their final two matches in the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers.
The Ghana Football Association (GFA) issued a statement revealing that the players had pulled out for various reasons.
The players affected are Antoine Semenyo, Inaki Williams, Jonas Adjetey, Tariq Lamptey, Jerome Opoku, Alexander Djiku, Ibrahim Osman, and Joseph Painstil.
Here are the reasons for each player’s withdrawal:
- Inaki Williams: Suffered a hamstring injury on November 7 and has been unable to train since.
- Tariq Lamptey: Dealing with aggravated calf discomfort and is currently undergoing rehabilitation with his club.
- Jonas Adjetey: Was recovering from an injury but experienced a setback during a league match on November 9, 2024.
- Jerome Opoku: Experiencing chronic back pain, which worsened during a match against Besiktas on November 10. He is undergoing rehab with his club.
- Antoine Semenyo: Recovering from a patellar tendon injury caused by an overload of games. His club’s medical team has advised consulting a tendon specialist to prevent further damage.
- Alexander Djiku: Aggravated an existing hamstring injury during a match on November 10, 2024, and had to be substituted.
- Ibrahim Osman: Picked up a hamstring injury in his most recent match, leading to his substitution at halftime.
- Joseph Painstil: Withdrew for personal reasons.
The Black Stars will open their camp today and hold their first training session at the Accra Sports Stadium at 17:00 GMT, which will be open to the public. The team will have a final training session on Tuesday before flying to Luanda on Wednesday.
Ghana will face Angola on November 15 at the Estádio 11 de Novembro and then take on Niger Republic three days later at the Accra Sports Stadium.
Currently, the Black Stars sit in third place in Group F with just two points from their four matches, trailing both Angola and Sudan.