Black Stars team doctor, Martin Engmann, has declared Black Stars defender Shilla Illiasu fit for selection in tomorrow's semi-final clash between Ghana and Cameroun at the Ohene Djan Stadium. Dr Engmann's revelation to the Daily Graphic yesterday put to rest speculations which suggested that the FC Saturn defender was nursing an injury but had been selected for the tournament ahead of some fully fit players. According to the team doctor, Illiasu had satisfied all the main medical criteria used to determine player fitness. "A player has to pass cardiovascular endurance, muscle endurance, muscle strength, body composition and body flexibility" he stated in an exclusive interview at the team's Fiesta Royale Hotel camp. Dr Engmann said by these criteria, Illiasu passed for selection in tomorrow's starting line-up only that the final decision as to whether or not he would be fielded would lie with Head Coach Claude Le Roy. The doctor further explained that the five criteria: were directly related with the player’s psychological state since injuries always had an effect on the player's mental toughness. He said when a player did run for a while, for instance, it affected his muscle flexibility as well as his cardiovascular endurance. "I have realised that many people are complaining about our supposed silence on Illiasu's health condition but what they have to know is that in medical practice, it is unethical to make an individual's' health status public," he told this reporter. According to him, recovery from injury takes time and that is the reason why the coach will use a player who has been in the team over one who has recovered from injury. "Another reason why coaches sometimes like to keep recovered players on the bench for a while is that there is always a high probability of re-injury immediately the player resumes training and playing actively," he said. Shilla Illiasu, who plies his trade with FC Staurn in Russia, has been nursing an ankle injury for some time now. The libero position in the Black Stars squad became vacant after Skipper John Mensah was shown a red card for fouling Nigerian forward, Peter Odemwingie, in the MTN Africa Cup of Nations quarter-final match played at the Ohene Djan Stadium in Accra. Source: Daily Graphic