Soccer News of Tuesday, 17 December 2002

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Stars to play Pharoahs

Players and officials of the senior national football team, the Black Stars will leave Accra tomorrow to play Egypt in an international friendly match on Sunday. The game would be the second major friendly for coach E.K Afranie and his team after they lost 0-1 to Nigeria at the Accra Stadium.

The loss against Nigeria, the first on home soil for Ghana in 27 years has done very little to advance interim coach Afranie’s claim as the best man for the Black Stars job on a full time basis. So the game in Egypt means everything to Afranie who must impress to appease the fans for Sunday’s loss.

He says he will keep faith with most of the players who starred in the Nigeria game but will have on hand Hearts of Oak key man Bernard Don Bortey who will join the team from the United Arab Emirates after trials there.

Afranie lambasted Hearts of Oak players after the Nigeria loss saying their refusal to respond to the national call for that game was crucial in the Stars loss.

Goalkeeper Sammy Adjei left camp without any valid reason while Charles Taylor was granted permission to travel to Italy for trials to the chagrin of Afranie. And after Sunday’s defender Kwabena Boafo who was on the substitute bench also packed out.

Afranie says first choice keeper Sammy Adjei has apologised for his vanishing act but the player might not make the Egypt trip because of an injury.