Ghana can’t catch a break: following a disastrous start to the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers and the surprise sacking of the manager, a planned international friendly in Morocco has now been cancelled. The reasons behind this are quite something.
Ghana have made a disastrous start to the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, losing their opening match away to Ivory Coast (0–2) and then suffering a further defeat at home to Gambia (2–4). Cologne left-back Gideon Mensah played the full 90 minutes in both matches – but his international break is now set to end early. The 28-year-old is expected back at the Geißbockheim as early as Monday.
Immediately after the defeat to the Ivorians, the Ghana Football Association (GFA) had informed Morocco that they would not be playing the planned friendly on 4 October. The reason given was that they were having problems fielding enough players and were therefore simply not competitive. Numerous key players, such as Jordan Ayew, Antoine Semenyo, Abdul Rahman Baba, Alidu Seidu, Mohammed Kudus and Nathaniel Adjei, had withdrawn from the training camp in the run-up to the match due to injury.
Bonus row and disappointed Moroccans
Furthermore, the association confirmed that it still owed the players victory bonuses and stated at the same time that it did not wish to impose any further financial burdens on itself by playing another match. The bonus row apparently concerns World Cup bonuses that have not yet been paid out in full.
The fact is, there is unrest in Ghana, and Morocco will not be taking part. “The decision was taken following joint consultations between both associations,” the Ghanaians explained in a statement, adding that they “sincerely apologised to all those affected, fans and the media for the inconvenience caused”.
This means that Ghana have played only two matches during the current international window, although theoretically four would have been possible. On the Moroccan side, there was considerable disappointment at the cancellation, as advance ticket sales had long since begun and tickets had already been sold. However, the North Africans have already found a replacement and confirmed that they will now play Mali on Sunday (8.00 pm).
Back and forth over Queiroz
The cancellation of the match is just another chapter in Ghanaian football’s recent history, which has been marked by considerable turmoil. Carlos Queiroz is also at the centre of attention. The Portuguese took charge of the Black Stars in April, after his predecessor, Otto Addo, was sacked immediately following a 1–2 friendly defeat to Germany at the end of March.
Originally, the 73-year-old was only supposed to lead the team through the World Cup, but they reached the round of 32 (losing 0–1 to Colombia) – a surprise result – and Carlos Queiroz stayed on. Less than four weeks after his surprise contract extension, however, a U-turn followed following a disastrous start – and Ghana announced the coach’s departure.
With zero points from two matches, Ghana sit bottom of Group C in the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers and are now under immense pressure ahead of their upcoming fixtures against Somalia (11 November). Before then, however, a new national team manager must first be found.