Ghana assistant coach Ibrahim Tanko has reiterated that their intention to rebuild the Black Stars is spot on despite the calling-up of veterans in the last selection.Â
Some of the Black Stars players called-up for the clash against Kenya, where Ghana lost 1-0 in Nairobi, were veterans which has raised questions regarding the direction of the team following Coach Kwesi Appiah's initial which is about revamping the squad with young players.
27-year old Daniel Opare, 27-year-old Majeed Waris, 31-year old John Boye, 32-year old Harrison Afful were the notable players who are believed to have gone past their peak.
Read also:Player Profile: Majeed Waris
"The direction of the Black Stars has not changed," Ibrahim Tanko told Goal.
"We didn’t have Lumor [Agbenyenu] because he did not play in his club’s last few games before naming our squad. So we invited Daniel Opare who was in the team for matches against Congo, Uganda and Saudi Arabia, so he’s not a new addition.
"Boye was earning invites when we came on board but injuries had to halt that. This season, he’s played all the games for his club when fit. We saw that he’s fit and with his experience, he could do something."
"Thomas Agyepong was out on a long-term injury. He just returned to action plus he changed clubs, so it was not fair to call him up as he had not even played a game," Tanko explained.
"Afful was there because Lumor was not there and we needed two players for both positions.
"Opare was there and we also had Yiadom who played his best game for the Black Stars at left back at the 2017 Afcon against Burkina Faso. So we have not diverted from the direction.
"All those invited deserved to be there."
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Ghana will seek to recover from the Nairobi setback with a home game against Sierra Leone in October.