Jerome Opoku withdraws from Ghana squad for Niger clash

By Lukman MUMIN, Accra

Turkey-based Ghana defender Jerome Opoku has been excused from the Black Stars camp after it was confirmed that he aggravated his injury from training on the Baba Yara pitch.

Opoku will fly to Istanbul for further assessments as he begins his recovery from the setback while in the national team camp.

The Istanbul Basaksehir centre-back, who did not feature in the game against Angola in Kumasi, will now miss the match against Niger in Morocco. He becomes the second player to withdraw from the game in
Morocco after Joseph Paintsil failed to travel with the team due to passport issues.

“The player reported to the medical team a deep seated pain within his left gluteal muscles and further examination confirmed that the pain got aggravated by the poor pitch on which he trained in Kumasi,” stated the FA.

Meanwhile, the team arrived in Morocco in the early hours of Saturday morning and will train later in the day as they prepare for Niger.

The Black Stars will be hoping to recover from the defeat to Angola when they engage Niger at the Stade Municipal Berkane.