With exactly four days to the intriguing encounter between Ghana and Nigeria, the Ghana Football Association, either involuntarily or of their own volition, has eventually released the squad that has starved Ghanaians for so long.

The 27-man squad named by head coach, Otto Addo, technical advisor, Chris Hughton and the rest of the technical team consist of four goalkeepers, nine defenders, six midfielders and eight forwards.

Dennis Korsah, Elisha Owusu, Denis Odoi, and Felix Afena Gyan are the new names included in the list while Joseph Aidoo, Richard Ofori, Yaw Yeboah and Mohammed Kudus make a return to the squad after missing the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations.

In-form players must always be included

The squad announcement was announced early Tuesday morning which has perhaps, not triggered massive backlashes, especially on social media. A fairly decent squad in the grand scheme of things and it could have been much better including regularly performing players, especially those who are not clearly associated with the FA.

17 of the players named for the impending doubleheader were part of dismissed coach, Milovan Rajevac’s team for the AFCON tournament in Cameroon. In truth, it would have been more had it not been for injuries and suspensions. Andre Ayew (suspended), Samuel Owusu (injured) Baba Rahman (injured), Mubarak Wakaso (injured), Kamaldeen Sulemana (injured) have all been handed regular invitations ever since they emerged in the team.

Gone are the days Ghana can boast of Sulley Muntari at Inter Milan, Michael Essien at Chelsea, and Asamoah Gyan at Sunderland. Things have changed which means there is a wide gap between the quality of Black Stars players and the Super Eagles which is why it is paramount to get your players who are on sizzling form to match them boot for boot.

Ibrahim Danlad has established himself as the most in-form and consistent goalkeeper on the local terrain. They say numbers do not lie. In 11 games for Kotoko in the Ghanaian top-flight, the 19-year-old has kept eight clean sheets and conceded a paltry four goals. His contribution to Kotoko’s rich vein in-form in the Ghana Premier League is massive.

Anderlecht midfield dynamo, Majeed Ashimeru, is in Belgium, a country in which two debutants were given call-ups (Denis Odoi and Elisha Owusu), and bossing the midfield for the Belgian giants. Ashimeru has scored three times and assisted twice for his club. The numbers might sound insignificant but the 24-year-old has been able to cement a starting spot due to his ability to dictate the tempo of games from deep midfield.

Danlad, midfielders, Ashimeru and Alfred Duncan plus a couple of others have knocked on the door of Black Stars for long and the constant closer of it is inexplicable.

Clash against Nigeria will not be plain-sailing

The clash against Nigeria is arguably the most unpredictable and talked about fixture in the five World Cup play-offs in Africa and so it is absolutely prudent to parade your best players to get the best results. Naming your in-form players, not only will it boost your chances of winning the game, but the opposition will be thinking about how to keep them at bay and if they struggle to come up with a better idea, the option is to hope and pray these performing players have a bad day.

It can be said Ghana is in this situation. Former Nigeria striker Yakubu Aiyegbeni mocked Ghanaians on Joy Sports Link that, “we have about nine strikers. Ghana don't have strikers, so we can even spare them some.” Such impudence was as a result of their star-studded squad and their terrific display at this year’s AFCON – albeit they exited at the knockout phase.

AFCON 2019 top scorer Odion Ighalo, Emmanuel Dennis of Watford and Napoli’s leading striker Victor Osimhen have been named in the squad for the match. After completing a nationality switch, Leicester City forward, Ademola Lookman was also given an invitation.

Ghana-Nigeria clash, a game many say is not based on form or quality, but rather pride and bragging right but how can you win without your best players irrespective of the tactics set to be deployed on the pitch. The squad announcement is irreversible and only time can tell if the crop of Black Stars selected can clip the wings of the Super Eagles on March 25 in Kumasi and March 29 in Abuja.