Ghana assistant coach George Boateng has urged home-based players to earn playing time and not “make up numbers” in the national team.
The locally-based players in Ghana have found minutes hard to come by when they are called up to the national team.
Dennis Korsah, Abdul Ganiyu, Philemon Baffour, Augustine Okrah, Ibrahim Danlad and Gladson Awako have to secure considerable minutes despite repeated call-ups to the team.
Hearts of Oak forward, Daniel Afriyie Barnieh, is the latest and only home-based player to have been included in Ghana’s 29-man squad for Brazil and Nicaragua friendlies.
“We are always considering local players and we always say to the local players, if you come to the Black stars, think that you are also good enough to be there,” Boateng told Joy Sports
“I can understand these boys [home-based players] watch those players [Kudus, Partey, Djiku] on TV and then all of a sudden, you end up in the same dressing room as them.”
“You have to try your best. Give your best because you are not here [Black Stars] to make up numbers,” the former U-23 Aston Villa coach added.
Ghana will play Brazil on Friday, September 23, at Stade Oceane in Le Harve- France before taking on Nicaragua at Estadio Francisco Artes Carrasco in Lorca, Spain on Tuesday, September 27, 2022.
