Black Stars coach Otto Addo has reacted to decisions made by some European-born players to commit their international futures to Ghana.
Tariq Lamptey and Inaki Williams who have previously represented England and Spain, are two of five players who switched allegiance to Ghana earlier this month.
“Since March we’ve been talking with a lot of players who we think can impact the team,” Addo, 42, told the BBC World Football podcast.
“It’s a difficult decision, especially if you were born in another country, and you’re young and have a choice to play for two nations because once you’ve played more than three matches, you can’t change again.
“And this is not like the club stage where you can sign maybe for one to three years. And then after that, if things don’t work, you can go to another club.
Along with Lamptey and Williams, three German-born players have also declared for the Black Stars: Stephen Ambrosius, Ransford-Yeboah Konigsdorffer, and Patric Pfeiffer.
Williams earned one cap for Spain in 2016, while Lamptey, Ambrosius, and Konigsdorffer have all earned Under-21 caps for their respective countries.
Addo, a former Dortmund player, was born in Germany to Ghanaian parents and chose to represent Ghana, winning 15 caps between 1999 and 2006.
“Being born in Germany, maybe I can even understand more of that thinking,” the former Hamburg and Dortmund midfielder added.
“We want those who decided to play for Ghana to get familiar with the team and the staff. So, everybody who wants to join has to join now and they know exactly what they’re going to do.”
Addo took charge of Ghana after their group-stage exit from the Africa Cup of Nations in January, and led the side to World Cup qualification for the first time since 2014 after beating fierce rivals Nigeria on the away goals rule.
He has extended his contract until the end of December and will lead the 2010 World Cup quarter-finalists against Portugal, South Korea and Uruguay in Group H at this year’s finals in Qatar in November.
Source: 3news.com|Ghana