Afena-Gyan must return to Black Stars, says Ghana legend Awudu Issaka

Ghana football legend, Awudu Issaka has called for the return of young forward Felix Afena-Gyan to the senior national team, the Black Stars.

The Cremonese youngster broke into the senior national team under Otto Addo for Ghana’s two-legged clash with Nigeria in the World Cup playoffs last year.

He featured in the Ghana's first two games in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations [AFCON] qualifiers against Madagascar and the Central African Republic.

However, the 20-year-old couldn’t make the cut for the team’s final 26-man squad for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar following his move to the struggling Serie A side from AS Roma.

Afena-Gyan has again left out of new Black Stars coach Chris Hughton’s squad for the team’s third and fourth 2023 AFCON qualifying matches against Angola.

The 20-year-old however rejected a call-up to the Black Meteors ahead of their back-to-back games against Algeria for the U-23 AFCON qualifiers.

Awudu Issaka however thinks the former Roma player has a comparative advantage over his competitors in the Black Stars.

“Afena-Gyan should be recalled to the Black Stars because he possesses some qualities that the current strikers lack,” he told Angel TV.

He has rather chosen to train harder with his fitness coach to be in good shape for subsequent competitions.

Having missed the last two games for Cremonese, Afena-Gyan would be hoping to finally get minutes when they host Atalanta on Saturday.