Ghana coach CK Akonnor reacts to absence of seven key players ahead of South Africa clash

Ghana coach Charles Kwabla Akonnor believes the absence of seven key players from the Black Stars squad will not affect his side in their game against South Africa in the 2022 World Cup qualifier.

The Bafana Bafana will host the Black Stars in matchday 2 of the qualifiers at the FnB stadium on Monday.

Ghana are on top of Group G after beating Ethiopia in the opener, with South Africa and Zimbabwe having a point each due to their stalemate last Friday.

Charles Kwabla Akonnor traveled with a 26-man squad for the trip leaving out the players from England and Germany who could not join the team.

The team traveled without the English and German-based nationals because South Africa is placed on the COVID-19 red list of the aforementioned countries since they will have to isolate for 10 days when they return to their respective clubs.

The players left out of the squad include Daniel Amartey, Jordan Ayew, Jeffrey Schlupp, Andy Yiadom, Baba Rahman, Braydon Manu and Daniel Kofi Kyereh.

At the pre-match conference, Akonnor insisted the absence of the seven players who would have start for the Black Stars against South Africa won’t affect the team since they knew the situation at hand and prepared towards it.

“Because we were aware of the situation so we are well prepared. We knew that the English players might not come here with us because of Covid situation here and so we were prepared by way of coming here. We knew exactly what will happen so is not going to be a complain” he said.

After missing the 2018 event in Russia, Ghana has set their sights on returning to the World Cup.

The Black Stars reached the world showpiece in Germany 2006 where they were making their first appearance.

They then went on to reach the Round of 16.

They secured a qualification ticket for the South African 2010 edition. This campaign saw them reach the quarter-finals, where they were defeated by Uruguay.

They made their third consecutive appearance at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil but they were forced to exit at the group stage for the first-time.