2019 AFCON selection base on Mauritania game – Kwesi Appiah

Black Stars head coach, Kwesi Appiah, has said Tuesday’s friendly against Mauritania will mark the commencement of preparations for the senior National team, the Black Stars of Ghana to end a 37-year Africa Cup of Nations trophy drought in Egypt come June/July.

The Ghana Team sailed through to top Group F of the 2019 African Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers after thrashing Kenya by one goal to nil at the Accra Sports Stadium last Saturday.

In an attempt to select the best team for the 2019 edition of the Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt, Coach Kwesi Appiah, believes Mauritania game in Accra would help him observe more players and make decisions on his final squad for the AFCON.

“From the start, I kept saying that the games against Kenya and Mauritania would be used to assess some of the players I not 100 percent sure of. We are going to the AFCON and so, it is important that we know the player we will pick.

This is the last time I will be calling players and it is important that we bring in some new strikers so we decide whether they are better than the ones we have. Some of the players have featured against Kenya and others will play on Tuesday and I will make sure they play so we can take a decision on them.” he said.

Ghana has been placed in Pot 1 for the AFCON draw and they have Egypt, Tunisia, Cote d’Ivoire, Cameroon and Senegal for company. The draw comes off on April 12 in Cairo, Egypt.

Nana Addo Urges Black Stars To Win 2019 AFCON

President Nana Akufo-Addo in a congratulatory message last Saturday urged the Black Stars to strive harder to bring this year’s AFCON trophy to Ghana to end the three-decade drought.

“Warm congratulations to the players, coach Kwasi Appiah and his technical team, and the management team of the senior national football team, the Black Stars, on Saturday’s victory over Kenya. Phase 1 of the project, i.e. topping their AFCON qualifying group, has been realised. Now on to phase 2, that is winning the next AFCON tournament in Egypt. I am confident we can make it, if we work at it. God bless the Black Stars”, Nana Akufo-Addo posted on Facebook.