Sports Features of Saturday, 3 May 2014

Source: ghanasoccernet.com

2014 World Cup: Accam deserves a look

Though Kwesi Appiah’s 2014 World Cup squad looks all but set, Helsingborg’s David Accam is worth a last-minute look.

Kwesi Appiah’s reign as Black Stars coach will be remembered for giving a lot of promising youngsters a chance to shine for the national team.

Former Ghana Premier League goal king Mahatma Otoo, now with Norwegian side Sogndal, has had his chances but, unfortunately, could not nail his position for the finals in Brazil.

Captain Asamoah Gyan has been on fire, but it must be said with every goal scored raises questions about the standard of the league he is playing in and even more worrisome is; Will he be able to replicate his form at least once more at the highest stage?

Waris has been inspirational since moving to Valenciennes where he is scored nine goals in 14 French Ligue 1 appearances.

His turnover is highly impressive considering he only joined midway through the season so he is a sure bet.

Jordan Ayew has struggled to live up to expectation at both club and national team level.

Marseille legend Didier Drogba has criticized him for promising so much but delivering little.

With barely 40 days to the world cup, I do not expect to see many surprises when the provisional squad is named on 13 May, but when a player scores 10 goals in 12 matches in Sweden, it is only natural he is worth a look in, especially if we are not so comfortable with our striking options.

Kelvin Prince Boateng joined the Black Stars train at the last minute of World Cup qualifiers.

Richmond Boakye Yiadom has his admirers. But the vast majority of people will admit that this world cup might come too early for him and there will be other opportunities after the World Cup. Morocco 2015 will be a great platform.

But David Accam has a strong case. He is low key and unglamorous as considered by many, but with every passing game he makes his case stronger.

He has had an extraordinary season at Helsingborg with his goals giving a struggling Helsingborg side hope.

Fellow Ghanaian international Majeed Warris could not hide his delight for Accam and tweeted after his last goal “Great goal bro. Keep it up, it really got me jumping.”

It looks like Kwesi Appiah has settled on his squad already, but the form of Accam should give him some headache.