Grant urges respect for Canada ahead of friendly

Ghana coach Avram Grant expects his players to face a good team when they take on Canada in an international friendly on Tuesday in Washington DC, because he believes football in the North American nation has grown over the years.

"The football has developed very well in Canada. I was at a game between Toronto FC and Chicago Fire last week. It was a good game and the football has developed a lot here," the Israeli coach said.

The Black Stars face a team of fresh faces following Canada coach Benito Floro's desire to use the game as a platform to blood new players.

"It is always important to provide an opportunity to new players to be integrated into the team from a tactical and social point of view," Floro said in a statement following the announcement of his squad for the game earlier this month.

"To be part of future camps and our journey to Russia 2018, it was essential we brought them into our program this month for the Ghana match."

Ghana are ranked 25th in the world, while the Canadians are 104th.

Both nations will be meeting for the second time ever with Ghana playing catch up after going down 2:1 to the Cannucks in 1985 at the President's Cup in Seoul.

Meanwhile in the absence of injured Ghana skipper Asamoah Gyan and his vice Andre Ayew, Udinese of Italy midfielder Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu is happy to captain the Black Stars for the second time.

"It is always a privilege to captain a team like this. We missed our captain Asamoah Gyan and vice captain Dede Ayew so I have to take control of everything," said Badu.

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