2022 World Cup: Ghana keepers Wollacott and Ofori ruled out, Black Stars final squad hit with surprises
- Wollacott and Ofori out of World Cup
- Duo injured during club duty
- Other big names also missing
WHAT HAPPENED: Charlton Athletic custodian Wollacott picked up an injury during the warm-up of their 3-3 League One draw against Burton Albion in recent club duty. The 26-year-old Ghana international was injured before kick-off and was replaced by Craig MacGillivray on the weekend.
Ghana's second-choice custodian, Ofori of Premier Soccer League giants Orlando Pirates, picked up an injury in training and missed the Carling Black Label Cup tournament last weekend.
THE BIGGER PICTURE: Eupen goalkeeper Manaf Nurudeen, Ibrahim Danlad who plays locally for Berekum Chelsea and Lawrence Ati-Zigi of St Gallen have been selected to do the job in Qatar.
🚨𝐎𝐮𝐫 𝟐𝟔-𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝗦𝗤𝗨𝗔𝗗 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗟𝗗 𝗖𝗨𝗣 𝗜𝗡 𝗤𝗔𝗧𝗔𝗥. #BlackStars | @FIFAWorldCup pic.twitter.com/C21kArl3hR
— 🇬🇭 Black Stars (@GhanaBlackstars) November 14, 2022
AND WHAT IS MORE: The injured Idrissu Baba has not been included as well as defender Johnathan Mensah and Mubarak Wakaso.
Joseph Paintsil who has been excellent for Genk and impressed at the Africa Cup of Nations is out. The midfielder has so far scored six goals and assisted as many in 14 league matches.
Exciting upcoming forward Felix Afen-Gyan has also been overlooked by the Black Stars technical bench, so has Crystal Palace winger Jeffrey Schlupp.
WHAT NEXT: Ghana will play Switzerland in a build-up match on Friday before heading to Qatar for the World Cup.
The Black Stars are in Group H alongside Portugal, South Korea and Uruguay.