Ghana's former captain, Stephen Appiah, has disclosed that players who often act unconcerned about Black Stars team call-ups end up being the first to check if they made the squad.

Stephen Appiah explained that players know the impact playing for the national team has on their careers, yet they pretend to be unperturbed.

He noted that some players who pretend not to be concerned about national team call-ups are often the first to check if they made the list.

"Players would behave as if they don’t care, but they do care. In our days, players would be proving stubborn, but when squad announcement time came, players were constantly on the phone trying to check if they were in," Stephen Appiah told 3Sports.

The former Black Stars captain's statement comes on the back of coach Otto Addo’s squad announcement for the upcoming 2026 World Cup qualifiers against Mali and the Central African Republic (CAR).

Ghana begin camping six days before their game against Mali Bamako on June 6 before returning to Kumasi to play CAR on June 10.

JNA/EK