Soccer News of Friday, 30 May 2014

Source: ghanasoccernet.com

2014 World Cup: Coach Appiah to release final 23-man Black Stars list on 2 June

Ghana coach Kwesi Appiah will release his final 23-man list for the forthcoming World Cup in Brazil by the June 2 deadline set by FIFA.

The Black Stars coach, who has been nicknamed the Silent Killer by the players, will do the silent killing of culling three players from his 26-man provisional squad.

Deadline date set by FIFA for the release of the final 23-man list by all participating countries is June 2, 2014.

This means Appiah must submit his final squad to FIFA by Sunday’s deadline with huge anxiety expected in the hours before the former Black Stars captain releases his squad.

Appiah has admitted that he is facing a big headache in naming his final squad after all the players in camp in the Dutch town of Arnhem are reported to have put in their maximum effort at impressing the coach.

Even critical radio pundits of the coach have expressed their sympathy with the coach in the selection process with the training and maximum performance demonstrated by the players during the training camp in Ghana.

Following the training sessions in Ghana and reports from Holland of the quality of training output, journalists believe that the coach would not find it easy dropping any of the 26 players in camp going by their quality.

But those dropped from the squad must find solace in the fact that they are certain to get another crack at the whip in future.

Ghana’s dropping of players from squads has in the past drawn huge controversies with some even threatening to beat up coaches when they are excluded from the final squad.

Laryea Kingston was infamously reported to have threatened to beat up the Black Stars then coach Milovan Rajevac when he was dropped from the 2010 final World Cup squad.

Baba Armando made wild accusations against various Ghana FA officials as well as journalists claiming they played a role in his axing from the Black Stars squad before the 2006 World Cup.

Which three players do you think Kwesi Appiah must drop from his final squad? Make your views known below: