Stephen Appiah: Special Advisor

January 3rd, 2008 | by: Daryl | Comments Off

Stephen Appiah is going to need some new business cards. Where it used to say “footballer, captain of Ghana” it will now read “special advisor,” because that’s the capacity in which the Fenerbahçe midfielder has been named to Ghana’s African Cup of Nations squad. Obviously Ghana coach Claude Le Roy would have preferred Appiah to be leading the Black Stars from midfield, but a knee injury means Appiah will be out of commission for two months and has zero chance of playing. But Appiah is so inspirational that Le Roy wanted his captain around anyway and so named him to the provisional 28 man African Cup of Nations squad. “I want [Appiah] to join us for our training camp and if possible to be with us during the tournament as well,” the coach told the Ghana FA’s website.”We will use him as a special adviser because he can bring a lot to the team even without playing.”

Will be interesting to see whether Appiah stays in the squad when it’s reduced to 23 on the January 10th deadline.

Another interesting inclusion is Celta Vigo striker Quincy Owusu Abeyie, who has already represented Holland at Under-21 level and is waiting to hear from FIFA whether he’s eligible to represent the Black Stars.

Ghana’s 28 man preliminary squad:

Goalkeepers:

Richard Kingson (Birmingham City), Sammy Adjei (Ashdod), Fatau Dauda (Ashantigold)

Defenders:

John Pantsil (West Ham United), Dan Opare (Ashantigold), Nana Kwasi Asare (FC Mechelon), John Mensah (Rennes), Alhassan Illiasu (FC Saturn), Francis Dickoh (FC Utretcht), Hans Adu Sarpei (Bayer Leverkusen), Harrison Afful (Asante Kotoko)

Midfielders:

Anthony Annan (I.K. Start), Eric Addo (PSV Eindhoven), Michael Essien (Chelsea), Bernard Kumodzi (Panionios), Laryea Kingston (Hearts), Haminu Draman (Locomotiv Moscow), Moussa Narry (Etoile du Sahel), Stephen Appiah (Fenerbahce), Sulley Muntari (Portsmouth), Andre Ayew (Olympique Marseille), Ahmed Barruso (AS Roma)

Strikers:

Matthew Amoah (NAC Breda), Asamoah Gyan (Udinese), Baffour Gyan (FC Saturn), Junior Agogo (Nottingham Forest), Quincy Owusu Abeyie (Celta Vigo), Kwadwo Asamoah (Liberty Professionals)