Former Ghana Football Association [GFA] communications director, Saanie Daara, has backed the technical team of the Black Stars not to expose the squad ahead of the 2022 World Cup.
With less than a month to the kick-off of the Mundial, a 55-man provisional squad has been sent to Fifa without making it public.
The list according to multiple reports includes names of Hudson Odoi, Abdul Salis Samed, Majeed Ashimeru, and a host of other names.
“World football has changed completely, and I agree with the point that sometimes you should trick your opponents a bit. As part of it, I will agree with the thought we should not make public our full squad to anybody until the World Cup when we can pull surprises,” Sannie Daara told Joy Sports.
Saanie also called on fans to exercise patience for the good of the national team.
“If it is, we want to please fans as they want to know what the squad looks like, fans should also understand that the World Cup is the big deal. Through these friendly matches, you can see some of your errors, and players who can fit in certain positions or not. But also, you must go into the tournament with some element of surprise.
“If you don’t and maybe you start playing with your first full team in your friendly matches, already you have given maybe 80% of your strategy to your opponents. These days, people are going into the nitty-gritty, the tiniest details before they play matches. We have 3 video analysts, and Portugal has 20. Which means they are monitoring the movements and tricks of every player you have.”
The squad of 55 will be pruned down to 26 and submitted on November 14 – a deadline set by FIFA.
The Black Stars have been drawn in Group H, alongside Portugal, Uruguay, and South Korea.
Source: Footballghana