Ghana defender Gideon Mensah has acknowledged that the absence of eight players from the Black Stars squad for the final matches of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers is a “big loss.”
Players including Tariq Lamptey, Alexander Djiku, Jonas Adjetey, Jerome Opoku, Ibrahim Osman, Osman Bukari, Inaki Williams, and Joseph Paintsil have withdrawn due to injuries, according to the Ghana Football Association (GFA). Paintsil, however, opted out due to “personal reasons,” per the GFA.
Mensah, one of the few players who attended the opening training session at the Accra Sports Stadium, expressed that these absences would be felt.
“For me, I think every player on the national team is crucial to the team. Obviously, we have players that we are always looking to see in the national team, and we have players that are also there to support when the other players are not there,” he stated.
Despite the withdrawals, Mensah, who plays for Auxerre, remains optimistic that the Black Stars have enough depth to compete in their upcoming games against Angola and Niger.
“It is a big loss for us, but at the end of the day, we also have a team to cover up. I am not really scared about that, but like I said, everybody is crucial to the team, so if one player is not there, another will be there to play,” he added.
Ghana will face Angola on November 15 in Luanda at the Estádio 11 de Novembro and then host Niger in Accra on November 18 at the Accra Sports Stadium. The Black Stars, four-time AFCON champions, currently sit third in Group F with two points from four games.
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