Soccer News of Monday, 10 August 2009

Source: ghanasoccernet

Black Stars storm London to face Zambia

All the players of the Black Stars are expected to arrive in London by Monday evening to play Zambia in a friendly.

Coach Milovan Rajevac has named his strongest squad to face the Chipolopolo in the World Cup warm up on Wednesday.

England-based players Michael Essien, John Paintsil and Richard Kingson as well as Laryea Kingston in Scotland will arrive on Monday morning.

Joining them on Monday morning are captain Stephen Appiah, his deputy John Mensah, Asamoah Gyan, Samuel Inkoom and Eric Addo.

Sulley Muntari faces a long flight from China where his club Inter Milan played local rivals Lazio in the Italian Super Cup on Saturday.

With most of the players playing for their European clubs on Sunday, they will join camp directly from their bases by Monday evening.

The Black Stars technical team arrived on Sunday morning with the only local player Harrison Afful on board.

The squad will train on Monday evening before two light training sessions mainly on team tactics on Tuesday, a day before the clash in Leyton.

Rajevac says he wants to maintain the winning mentality in the squad after very impressive runs in June’s World Cup qualifiers.

The game forms part of the Black Stars warm-up for September's World Cup qualifier against Sudan in Accra.

Ghana are in pole position in Group Five and they will strengthen their grip on top of the table if they secure a win over the Nile Crocodiles.

Zambia are also in contention for a World Cup ticket in Group Three are they are only three points adrift of leaders Algeria.