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Kamaldeen Sulemana and Ransford Yeboah Königsdörffer, who were recently part of the Black Stars, have made the decision to withdraw from the Black Meteors squad for the upcoming 2023 Africa U-23 Cup of Nations.

The duo traveled with the Black Stars to Antananarivo for their match against Madagascar in the 2023 AFCON qualifiers. Following the match, they were expected to join the national U-23 team for their training camp in Egypt before heading to Morocco for the tournament.

However, according to reports in the local media, Kamaldeen Sulemana and Ransford Yeboah Königsdörffer have both pulled out of the squad, with the reasons for their withdrawal yet to be determined.

Under the guidance of Ibrahim Tanko, the team has been undergoing intensive training since arriving in Cairo and recently played a friendly match against defending champions Egypt, resulting in a draw. They are also scheduled to play a friendly against Zamalek SC this afternoon.

Ghana has been placed in Group A, alongside Morocco, Guinea, and Congo, for the tournament.

Mohammed Polo, a Ghanaian coach, has strongly criticized Chris Houghton, questioning his tactical abilities and calling for his dismissal due to alleged incompetence.

Polo, speaking to Rainbow Sports, asserted that several local coaches in Ghana perform better than Houghton and should be given a chance to lead the national team.

Polo emphasized the high quality of football played by local coaches in the Ghanaian league and expressed his belief that they have consistently demonstrated excellence in their games.

According to him, the level of coaching and the development of talented players by these local coaches surpasses Houghton’s performance with the Black Stars.

“In the local league, we have better coaches who play quality football and are far superior to Chris,” Polo stated in an interview with Rainbow Sports.

“We observed the level of excellence they brought to their games. We witnessed the caliber of players they developed and employed in their games.

“These coaches are unquestionably superior to the current coach of the Black Stars. This coach did not produce quality players or football. We must fire him and replace him with a better coach who understands excellent football.”

The Black Meteors are set to take on Zamalek FC, the Egyptian giants, in a friendly match at the Zamalek Sports Complex.

Scheduled for Tuesday, June 20, 2023, at 5:30 PM local time (2:30 PM GMT), this test game is part of the preparations for the 2023 TotalEnergies U23 African Cup of Nations, which will be held in Morocco from June 24 to July 8.

Coach Ibrahim Tanko’s team is currently on a training tour in Cairo, Egypt. In their last friendly match, they played against the Egyptian U23 team and secured a 1-1 draw at the Alexandria Stadium on Thursday, June 15.

Following the friendly against Zamalek, the team will travel to Morocco and continue their preparations for their first Group A game against Congo on Sunday, June 25.

Ghana will then face Morocco in the second group game on June 27, followed by the final group game against Guinea on June 30.

With the aim of advancing from the group stage to the semi-finals, Ghana is determined to secure one of the three available tickets to participate in the men’s soccer competition at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.

Three games, two goals, one conceded. Make of it all you want but the truth remains that, the faith fans had in Chris Hughton is not wavering but the Black Stars’ result in Antananarivo on Sunday, for a moment, smudged that trust in the coach.  

Ghana put up a listless performance to draw goalless with Madagascar in their penultimate 2023 AFCON qualifier. Hughton earlier had a plucky start, beating Angola 1-0 in Kumasi, and drawing 1-1 away with the same side. Reactions to the Madagascar draw were critical and caustic, puncturing the hitherto positive outlook Hughton gave in his maiden media interaction and his first two games.

His third game in-charge of the Black Stars has however earned him little or no plaudits. Ghana neither attacked well nor created any decent chance effectively ending the game with hardly a shot on target. Hughton admitted the duel in the Indian island nation was “tough” and their failure to score disappointing.

“We needed to score to change the feeling of the game. We had a lot of possession, but we didn’t create enough clear chances and when you are unable to do this, it’s difficult to win games” Hughton told the GFA website. Claims that the quality of the pitch impaired our output are untenable. I’m happy the coach makes that concession too.

“The pitch is difficult, it’s an uneven pitch but it’s the same for both teams,” he said. We needed to be forceful to create more opportunities to score” he added. For obvious reasons neither the coach nor the GFA would talk directly to the discontent fans feel over the use of some players even when they were not faring well in the game.

We can afford to speak to the above issue and make it clear to Hughton that, truly the buck stops with him but then we are weary of watching players who give nothing to the course of games yet overstay on the field. If the Black Stars would come good, Chris Hughton must get that message clear enough.

Ghana must beat Central African Republic in the final qualifier to make it to Côte d’Ivoire. I’m sure we will win that game, but we should take no chances. If we struggled to beat Angola 1-0 in Kumasi, we could be in for trouble against Central Africa Republic (CAR) if we do not sit up. Thankfully, Hughton understands that.

“We know we [must] get the result. It’s a game we know the consequences if we don’t win. We will be going into another difficult game against [CAR], and we [must] win.” No doubt, the Black Stars must win that September fixture to be at the next AFCON.

Later today, Kamaldeen Sulemana, Ernest Nuamah, and Ransford-Yeboah Königsdörffer, who form a trio from the Black Stars, will join the rest of the Black Meteors’ squad.

These three players had trained with the Black Stars for the fifth match against Madagascar. However, the Black Stars could only manage a goalless draw against the Barea at the Mahamasina Municipal Stadium on Sunday.

During the match, Kamaldeen Sulemana was included in the starting lineup for the Black Stars, while Ernest Nuamah came on as a substitute in the second half. Unfortunately, Königsdörffer remained unused throughout the game.

With this draw, Ghana remains at the top of Group E with 9 points and will conclude their qualifiers against the Central African Republic on September 4.

Now, the trio will reunite with the Ghana U-23 team in Egypt to continue their preparations for the upcoming 2023 U-23 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Morocco later this month.

Having held Egypt to a 1-1 draw on Thursday, Ibrahim Tanko and his team will face Zamalek in a preparatory game on Tuesday.

Ghana has been placed in Group A alongside Morocco, Guinea, and Congo for the U23 Africa Cup of Nations Morocco 2023. The tournament will take place from June 24 to July 8, 2023, with matches in the cities of Rabat and Tangier.

Group A matches will be held at Rabat’s Prince Moulay Abdellah Sports Complex, while Group B matches will be played at the Grand Stade de Tanger in Tangier.

Ghana aims to secure one of the top three spots in order to qualify for the Summer Olympics in 2024.

Ghana finds themselves in a precarious position as they head into their final match against the Central African Republic.

Securing a qualification for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) in Ivory Coast now hinges on avoiding defeat, following their inability to secure a victory in the previous match against Madagascar, resulting in a goalless draw.

Madagascar, playing without pressure, delivered an impressive performance in front of their home supporters in Antananarivo. Their spirited display earned them a well-deserved point and delayed Ghana’s qualification until the last matchday.

Throughout the game, the four-time African champions struggled to find their rhythm and failed to pose a significant threat to Madagascar’s solid defense, which managed to maintain a clean sheet, their first in the qualifiers.

In his third game at the helm of the Black Stars, Chris Hughton opted for the experience of Andre Ayew and Jordan Ayew in the attacking line, supported by the in-form Joseph Paintsil and Kamaldeen Sulemana. This decision meant that Mohammed Kudus, the attacking midfielder, had to settle for a place on the bench.

However, Ghana’s attacking prowess faltered, resulting in only two shots on target despite their dominance in possession. The closest they came to scoring was through Thomas Partey’s well-struck free-kick at the Mahamasina Municipal Stadium.

The draw has left Group E wide open, with three teams still vying for qualification. Currently, Ghana leads with 9 points, followed closely by Angola with 8 points and the Central African Republic with 7 points.

In the upcoming September fixtures, Ghana must either secure a victory or a draw against the Central African Republic at home.

Meanwhile, Angola could secure their qualification with a draw in their final game against Madagascar. As for the Central African Republic, they must secure a victory against Ghana to secure their place in the tournament.