Ghana’s head coach Carlos Queiroz has stood by his choice to call up Thomas Partey, making it clear that the midfielder’s presence in camp is all the justification he intends to give on the matter.
Speaking to reporters ahead of Ghana’s friendly with Wales, Queiroz shut down any attempt to drag him into a wider debate about the selection, arguing that the decision speaks for itself now that Partey is with the squad.
He pointed to his own experience, recalling that he dealt with far tougher questions back in 2022 and has learned to avoid getting pulled into controversies that he believes belong elsewhere, emphasizing that his job is to keep distractions and negativity away from the team environment.
According to Queiroz, the current climate makes it hard to separate football from everything else happening around the game, but he feels there are far more pressing global issues worth discussing than a selection call that isn’t in his hands, the media’s hands, or the public’s hands to judge.
He insisted that since none of them have the full facts of Partey’s off-field situation, it’s better to let the authorities responsible for those matters handle them, while he focuses on preparing the Black Stars for the match against Wales where he first faced questions over the midfielder’s inclusion amid ongoing off-field scrutiny.
