Interim Black Stars coach, E.K Afranie leads the senior national team for a friendly international against Egypt on Sunday fully aware that a second successive defeat will do great damage to his ambitions of becoming the team’s coach on a full time basis. Afranie’s image took a dent after his locally assembled squad lost in Accra to Nigeria.
It was Ghana’s first home loss to the Super in twenty-seven years. Afranie’s view on what the defeat meant was almost defiant after the game insisting that there is no shame in losing a football match to Nigeria.
Ahead of departure for the Egypt game, he is keeping a low profile but he says this game means everything to him. A win against the four-time African champions in front of their home crowd will go a long way to shut up some of his critics.
But Afranie will have to do that without some of his most trusted personnel. There will be no Charles Taylor, who is on trials in Italy. Isaac Boakye who had a poor game against Nigeria is out with an injury so is Denmark based Razak Pimpong.
But Afranie will have Bernard Dong Bortey. He has also called up Amui Quaye from Great Olympics and Liberty Professionals’ William Tiero. Meanwhile the Black Stars coach and second best coach on the African continent last year has been invited as a special guest for Togo’s football awards night on December 27.