Ghana’s Black Meteors have departed to Egypt today ahead of the upcoming Africa U-23 Cup of Nations to be staged in Egypt.
The technical team, management and players left the shores of Ghana on Monday afternoon. The President of the Ghana Football Association, Kurt Okraku and some Executive Council members were at the Kotoka International Airport to bid the team farewell and wish them luck.
The tournament kicks off from November 8-22, 2019 with Ghana among seven other countries competing for the three slots to represent Africa at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.
The Black Meteors have been preparing ahead of the tournament and they engaged in their final friendly game against Division Two side Shooting Stars at the Accra Sports Stadium on Saturday which they won by 2-0.
Coach Ibrahim Tanko had all his players in camp and they all featured in the game against Shooting Stars as he assessed his team ahead of the tournament.
Tanko named his final 21-man squad for the tournament on Friday with seven new players set to make their debut.
Some key players who took part in the qualifiers such as Joseph Paintsil (Genk), Bernard Tekpertey (Dusseldorf), Dauda Mohammed (Esbjerb) and Nicholas Opoku (Udinese), were not released by their clubs for the three-week tournament.
In an interview with the media, Captain of the Black Meteors, Yaw Yeboah said the task for the team is to qualify for the Olympic Games.
He further said, the team is rimming with confidence ahead of the tournament and the quality and competition in camp will ensure the team achieves its target.
The Black Meteors will continue with preparations in Egypt ahead of their first game against Cameroon.
Ghana is paired with host Egypt, Mali and Cameroon in Group A.
The Black Meteors will begin their campaign against Cameroon on 8 November, 2019 at the Cairo International Sports Stadium.
Below is Ghana’s 21-man squad for 2019 CAF U23 Cup of Nations:
Goalkeepers: Kwame Baah (Asante Kotoko), Richmond Ayi (Hearts of Oak), Ibrahim Danlad (Asante Kotoko)
Defenders: Kingsley Fobi (CB Badajoz, Spain), Edward Sarpong (Esperanca de Lagos, Spain) Emmanuel Cudjoe (Attram De Visser), FuseiniZackaria (Berekum Chelsea), William Ntori, Dankyi (Hearts of Oak), Mohammed Habib (Asante Kotoko), Robin Polley (ADO Den Haag)
Midfielders: Evans OseiWusu (Tema Youth), Simon Zibo (Vitoria Guimaraes, Portugal), Nurudeen Abdul-Aziz (Vision FC), Emmanuel AddoquayeLomotey (Extremadura, Spain), Yaw Yeboah (Celta Vigo, Spain), Evans Mensah (HJK Helsinki, Finland), Michael Agbekpornu (Dreams FC).
Strikers: Frank Arhin (Dalkurd, Sweden), KwabenaOwusu (Cordoba, Spain) RopapaMensah (Nashville SC), Samuel ObengGyabaa (Real Oviedo).
