Just four months to the most unusual world cup in FIFA history when the whole world is not even looking, and are concentrated on the European transfer market. The Ghanaian FA has joined in on the act, gradually chipping away at potential targets of their own in an effort to build a team to challenge at the championship.
The west African nation defeated their neighbours and fierce rivals Nigeria through the away goal rule to qualify for the world cup. They played out a goalless draw at home while holding the eagles to a one all draw in Abuja in a match that culminated in a violent outburst by the Nigerian fans. Since winning qualification, the Ghanaian FA has set out to bolster their ranks in order to compete with the world's best I have Qatar in November.
Normally in an attempt to improve their teams, national team coaches go searching for hidden talents, hoping to unearth a gem who will bring extra quality to the team. But no, that's not Ghana's strategy this time around. The FA is out doing many European teams (including Manchester United) in their own transfer market, recruiting five (5) full grown professionals so far.
Brighton's Tariq Lamptey who had represented England at u21 level, Hamburger SV pair of Stephan Ambrosius and Ransford-Yeboah Königsdörffer, who both represented Germany u21s, and Darmstadt forward Pfeiffer, and Athletic Bilbao forward Iñaki Williams who played one friendly for Spain, where he was born, six years ago, have all been recruited by the Ghanaian FA to switch their allegiance to the West African nation.
It's been a fantastic transfer window for them as Lamptey is a proven premier league defender, Stephan Ambrosius and Ransford-Yeboah are exciting young talents who will bring youth and refreshing enthusiasm, while Inaki is a quality, proven and seasoned attacker with all the ingredients of a modern day attacker. With the likes of the Ayew brothers flanking Inaki Williams, this team can be lethal and provide a constant threat to any defense.
Incase you're wondering how FIFA allowed them to switch to another country, especially Inaki Williams, FIFA eligibility rules allows countries to recruit players from their global diaspora in certain cases. Players are allowed to switch allegiance to a new national team if they never played a competitive game for the first country they were eligible to represent.
So since Inaki only played for Spain in a friendly, he is eligible to switch allegiance to any other country, and in this case, Ghana. Same applies to the other four players who only appeared in u21 games, which doesn't apply as a competitive match in the FIFA system. So the Ghanaian FA is taking full advantage of this rule to poach as many of their players as possible.
Perhaps the fact that they've been drawn against the likes of Portugal, South Korea and Uruguay motivated them to go looking for reinforcements. Especially their match against Uruguay and the memories and demons of the 2010 penalty miss by Asamoah Gyan. Let's hope that when the time comes, their summer recruits won't buckle and disappoint, especially against Uruguay.
So far their business has been early, swift, purposeful, efficient, and effective. But the measure of success will be when winter comes and the big boys come to play.
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