It is something every advocate of the local game wants to see. A lot more involvement of home based players in the Black Stars. And as newly appointed Black Stars coach begins his new two year stint with the national team, some of the home based players are hoping he will give them greater attention.
Representation of home based players in major Black Stars games has hit an all time low with Richard Ofori the only one to have any minutes at the last Nations Cup in Gabon.
In Appiah’s first reign, they didn’t fare any better with Solomon Asante being the only outfield player in his squad for the 2013 Nations Cup and one goalkeeper in his 2014 world cup squad.
Despite that grim record, the rhetoric of Appiah’s commitment to local players has not stopped. There is renewed hope for the home based players in the wake of his re-appointment.
Liberty Professionals captain Samuel Sarfo is more than convinced the home based players can enrich the team and wants the new boss to pay attention. He also wants the home based players to be prepared for the opportunity when it comes.
“I think as local players we should be alert. We should be professional so that at least when we get the call up we can also make a major difference and also match up in all aspects to the foreign based players that come”, Sarfo told TV3 Sports.
Often, the argument has been that there is not just enough quality in the Ghana Premier League to boost the Black Stars. Felix Romark who covers the league for social media platforms disagrees.
He said “there is a lot of quality in the Ghana Premier League, if you fail to tap into them or if you fail to watch these games then you might think that we don’t have the quality but we have good players in the Ghana League. With Kwesi Appiah being in charge now I know they can make it into the Local Black Stars and there they will get the opportunity to represent the Black Stars.’’
So, many of the players including Hearts of Oak’s Thomas Abbey are hoping they get their big breakthrough.
“We are so happy for him to come back to the Black Stars again. I think he will always be here for the local league, to access the players and I think this time around the local players will get chances to penetrate into the senior team”.
By Nana Akua Amankwaa|TV3 Sports|Ghana
Twitter: @newsontv3