Coach Ibrahim Tanko has provided some updates on team news and  preparations for Ghana’s opening game of the TotalEnergies AFCON U23 tournament which will begin on Saturday, June 24, 2023.

Ghana's delegation arrived in Rabat on Wednesday and are to hold some training sessions ahead of their opening game against Congo on Sunday, June 25, 2023.

Below is a transcript of our interview with Coach Ibrahim Tanko. You can also click the link below to watch the full interview on our YouTube page:

Pre – tournament in Egypt

We had a very good training camp with two friendly games. We won one and drew one. I think the team is in very good shape and the players have improved very well. We used different set of players in the two friendly matches because we want to give everyone a chance to show what they can do in the tournament.  I am very impressed with the second team that played against Zamalek and I believe we can form a good side for our first game and for the tournament. We are here with 26 players so we have to give everyone the chance to show what they can do in the tournament. So far all of them have shown that if given the chance they can do well in the tournament.

Update on Kamaldeen Sulemana, Ransford-Yeboah Königsdörffer & Ernest Nuamah

For now I understand Ernest Nuamah is going to join us. The rest will not be able to join so we only have to concentrate on those who are here. We already know Ernest and we’ve played with him during the qualifiers so know he is coming to add some quality to the team. The others were not with us during the qualifiers but we felt they had qualities that could help the team since they are not here we will concentrate on those we played the qualifiers with. We are 100 percent sure that the quality is enough. Let’s hope that we will have all players fit for the tournament.

Update on Kojo Opoku Mahala

For now he is not joining because his team didn’t agree to release him for this tournament. This tournament does not fall within the FIFA international dates so we cannot force the team to release him. For now we know he is not coming and we are focused on the players who are here and we know they can do the job for us, 

Team Preparations between now and Sunday's opening game

We will train at 5pm daily today and tomorrow and will prepare for Sunday’s game. We hope that on Sunday we will have a good starting eleven for the nation. Participating teams are allowed to register 26 players but we can only present 23 for the tournament. We have 25 players here but we have a couple of days more to train before we make a final decision on the 23 to present to CAF for the tournament.

Target for the tournament

The target is to qualify to the Olympic games but there’s also a trophy at stake so we are going for the ultimate and in doing so we want to qualify for the Olympic games. We are here to do our job and the best for the nation but we also need the support of Ghanaians.

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