Hitting rock bottom after a dismal showing at the African Cup of Nations, Ghana looked abroad to renew its squad for the World Cup in Qatar. Reinforcements came from Germany, England and Spain.
New coach Otto Addo, who was born and played in Germany, used his connections to convince Ransford-Yeboah Königsdörffer and Stephan Ambrosius, a pair of players from the German U21 team, to opt to represent Ghana.
Tariq Lamptey, a defender for Brighton in the Premier League, now plays for Ghana after having represented England at youth level. And Iñaki Williams, an Athletic Bilbao striker who played a game with Spain in 2016, also entered Addo's renewed squad.
The big question is whether Ghana will have enough time for its new players to settle in for a World Cup in which they will debut against Portugal and also face South Korea and Uruguay.
Within Group H, the Black Stars seem to row against the current. Few voices dare to predict that they will be able to repeat their memorable march to the quarterfinals at the 2010 World Cup.
CONTINENTAL DISASTER
Ghana's World Cup year began with the African Cup fiasco. The four-time continental champions were eliminated in the group stage with a loss to Comoros, the small island nation contesting its first major tournament.
Ghana's worst performance in the African championship caused a crisis, giving way to profound changes. Manager Milovan Rajevac was sacked after a four-month spell — his second with Ghana — and Addo took on a new project.
He hastened to strengthen the team by convincing players with Ghanaian roots to “come home”. Everything indicates that his World Cup line-ups will be very different from Rajevac's.
THE REINFORCEMENTS
Convincing Williams to represent Ghana was the big blow, but it's sure to lead to hectic weeks for the Williams family during the World Cup. Nico, Iñaki's younger brother, could enter the Spain squad.
Inaki Williams and Lamptey made their debuts for the Black Stars in a 3-0 friendly loss against Brazil in September. Williams has revamped a Ghanaian attack that had relied heavily on the Ayew brothers, Andre and Jordan, in recent years. Both would be close to ending their careers with the national team, with Qatar as the last act.
In addition to Williams, Addo could give wings to two promising strikers: Felix Afena-Gyan (19) and Abdul Fatawu Issahaku (18), although it would be too early to think that they will catapult Ghana to the second round.
Thomas Partey, midfielder for Arsenal in the Premier League, was Ghana's best in the African Cup and is the linchpin of the team.
REMATCH
The third game of the group stage against Uruguay brings them to them.
Nobody forgets or forgives that Luis Suárez put his hand in the last moments of extra time in the quarterfinals of South Africa 2010. Suárez avoided a called goal that would have made Ghana the first African team to reach the semifinals of a World Cup.
The Ghanaians say the rematch won't be their biggest motivating factor when they meet again on December 2. But the chance to get even for what happened in Johannesburg 12 years ago will be there — especially if Suarez steps on the pitch for Uruguay.
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