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Ghana v Mali Friendly: Mubarak Wakaso Still An Integral Player For Black Stars – Ex-Defender John Paintsil

Football News Mubarak Wakaso
SEP 29, 2020 LISTEN
Mubarak Wakaso

2006 and 2010 Ghana World Cup star, John Paintsil is convinced midfielder Mubarak Wakaso is still an integral member for the senior national team, the Black Stars.

The former Deportivo Alaves midfielder was excluded from Ghana's 23 man squad for teh upcoming friendly match against Mali in October.

The friendly will help the Black Stars test their preparedness ahead of the resumption of the 2022 Africa Cup of Nation [Afcon] qualifiers against Sudan in November.

Despite his exclusion, the former Fulham and West Ham defender believes Wakaso is still a key for the national team.

“Wakaso is a key player in the team, so there is no way the coach will not speak to him before releasing the list,” he told Hello FM.

“With the experience I have, I know that the two of them have talked about it and Wakaso have agreed to reasons why he is not in the team because he is not injured. The coach knows he’s performing as well.

“Unless he’s not in the plans of the coach or the coach wants to look at new players [he would have been spoken to] since it’s a friendly match because Wakaso is a senior player,” he added.

Asamoah Gyan, Christian Atsu, Kwadwo Asamoah, Alfred Duncan and John Boye have all been left out of teh 23 man squad.

The 30-year made his full international debut for Ghana in 2012 and has gone on to represent the Black Stars at the 2013, 2015, 2017 and 2019 AFCON tournaments.

Wakaso currently plays for Chinese Super League club Jiangsu Suning after leaving Spanish La Liga club, Deportivo Alaves in January.

Samuel Ekow Amoasi Appiah
Samuel Ekow Amoasi Appiah

Sports JournalistPage: SamuelEkowAmoasiAppiah

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