Soccer News of Tuesday, 19 May 2009

Source: kickoff

Nana Asare left out of Mali squad

Nana Kwasi Asare’s joy at clinching a move to Dutch side Utrecht FC has been dampened by coach Milovan Rajevac’s decision to leave him out of the squad that will play Mali in a world cup qualifier.

The left back had a fine season in Belgium, earning a nomination for best African player there in the process before forcing his way into Rajevac’s squads for friendlies against Egypt in Cairo and Benin in a 2010 World Cup qualifier.

But the Serbian says he has no plans for Asare in Ghana’s World Cup qualifier against Mali which could invariably also mean he will miss the other game against Sudan two weeks after the Mali game.

“He is a good player but Asare is an attacking left back and for this match, you need a different type of player,” Rajevac told CitiFM. “He is part of the future but not in my plans for Mali.”

Ironically Rajevac could fall on back to base Asante Kotoko left back Harrison Afful or Samuel Inkoom, two players who have made their name in the game on the back of their attacking qualities from the full back positions rather than their defending.