Black Stars coach Charles Akonnor has come under intense fire recently over his latest squad which was announced on Friday, October 30, 2020.

The criticism targeted at Akonnor stems from his decision to hand call-ups to two players many pundits believe are currently not at the level required to play for the Black Stars.

The two, are Baba Rahman of Chelsea and Emmanuel Lomotey of Amiens with critics positing that they were invited by virtue of their affiliations with the President of the Ghana Football Association.

Lomotey’s call-up has been questioned particularly because he failed to impress in the Black Stars last two friendly matches against Mali and UAE last month.

But Abukari Damba, a former goalkeeper’s trainer of the team has come to Akonnor’s defense.

Damba holds that Lomotey is a midfield gem with a potential to lead the team in the next two years.

He highlighted the attributes of the players and likened him to Arsenal midfielder Thomas Partey.

“For now we may not be getting the best performances from Lomotey , but in 2 years he will take over the midfield,” Damba said on Citi TV.

“This is a box-to-box midfielder like Thomas Partey. No disrespect to Thomas but Lomotey, technically, he is a delight to watch. Like I said before, Lomotey is a complete player, he is a great passer of the ball and he has an excellent delivery from dead ball situations,” he concluded.


Ghana will take on Sudan on Thursday, November 12, in Cape Coast before engaging the Sudanese team 5 days later in Khartoum.