The 2015 African cup of Nations is barely a week away, and Ghana’s Black Stars are holed up in , Seville, Spain; carrying out an intensive pre tournament training camp as they aim to make the nation proud in Equatorial Guinea.
New coach Avram Grant is also trying to come to terms with the vagaries of his new team, as his task is a little more daunting than most: he is to create a winning team with a little more than three weeks preparation.
The team engaged in their first competitive friendly ahead of the tourney, playing Olhanese Club in nearby Portugal. They emerged 3-0 winners, with goals from new striker Kwesi Appiah, Christian Atsu, and Jordan Ayew.
The match was a great opportunity for Grant to assess his charges in a competitive atmosphere, and served as a final test for making the final squad. Indeed with CAF’s deadline for submission of the final squad being 7th January, Grant submitted his squad soon after the completion of the game.
Of the 26 who made the trip to Spain, three were dropped. Samuel Inkoom, Ibrahim Moro, and Kwabena Adusei; Jeffrey Schlupp also had to be dropped due to injury.