adminACCRA. — Ghana boss Avram Grant believes his job is not enviable when it comes to axing players.
The Israeli has taken five names off his initial 31 man provisional squad and he is currently camping in the south of Spain with 23.Absent in camp are Abdul Majeed Waris (hamstring), Jeffery Schlupp (minor injury) and Andre Ayew (yet to jet in from Marseille).
Ghana-based ‘keeper Stephen Adams, Sweden-based Enoch Adu Kofi, England-based Albert Adomah and on-loan Sampdoria youngster Alfred Duncan were all cut.
“It is not easy but it is my job all the time. At the end of the day, the tournament allow us to take only 23 players so we need to cut it to 23,” the 59-year old said.
“It was not easy also because we had too much injuries some players didn’t in the last two months so we needed and we’re still checking them. I think in the short time we did a good job.”
Grant will suffer further scrutiny when he names his final 23-man squad by the Caf deadline of midnight today.
Meanwhile, Grant has defended his decision to camp in Spain ahead of the Afcon.
The tournament starts on January 17 and with the team landing in Spain on Monday, critics have questioned the efficacy of choosing the south of that country.
Key among the complaints have been temperature disparities.
“We picked south of Spain because we need to train and train well. Few of the players are playing but many of the squad have not been in action over the last two months.”
He went on: “We were looking for a place where we could train in good weather so the south of Spain was good because its not too cold and not too warm. Our players will have to train twice a day and we have good weather so I think this is the best option.”
One key item on the Israeli’s to-do list will be to name his final 23 players for the Equatorial Guinea tournament by midnight today. — Supersport.com
Online Reporter