Eight players withdraw from Ghana squad for Angola and Niger games

Eight players have withdrawn from the Black Stars squad ahead of Ghana’s final two matches in the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers.

The Ghana Football Association (GFA) announced that these players are unavailable due to various reasons.

The players who have pulled out include Antoine Semenyo, Inaki Williams, Jonas Adjetey, Tariq Lamptey, Jerome Opoku, Alexander Djiku, Ibrahim Osman, and Joseph Painstil.

Here are the reasons for each player’s withdrawal:

• Inaki Williams: Suffered a hamstring injury on November 7 and has been unable to train since.
• Tariq Lamptey: Dealing with aggravated calf discomfort and is currently undergoing rehabilitation with his club.
• Jonas Adjetey: Was recovering from an injury but experienced a setback during a league match on November 9, 2024.
• Jerome Opoku: Experiencing chronic back pain, which worsened during a match against Besiktas on November 10. He is undergoing rehab with his club.
• Antoine Semenyo: Recovering from a patellar tendon injury caused by an overload of games. His club’s medical team has advised consulting a tendon specialist to prevent further damage.
• Alexander Djiku: Aggravated an existing hamstring injury during a match on November 10, 2024, and had to be substituted.
• Ibrahim Osman: Picked up a hamstring injury in his most recent match, leading to his substitution at halftime.
• Joseph Painstil: Withdrew for personal reasons.

The Black Stars will begin their training camp today, with their first session scheduled for 17:00 GMT at the Accra Sports Stadium. This session will be open for the public to attend. The team will hold a final training on Tuesday before departing for Luanda on Wednesday.

Ghana is set to play Angola on November 15 at the Estádio 11 de Novembro, followed by a match against Niger Republic at the Accra Sports Stadium three days later.

The Black Stars currently rank third in Group F with only two points from four matches, placing them behind Angola and Sudan.