John Mensah to miss out on World Cup

Former Black Stars skipper, John Mensah, has been nurturing a bid for a comeback to the senior national team, the Black Stars, but that audacious attempt could be a pipe dream if he fails to secure a club in this January second transfer window.

Mensah’s career has been strewned with injuries and he recently sustained a career-threatening one which rendered him largely inactive for the past two years. But the man, referred to as the ‘Rock of Gibraltar confirmed to journalists recently that he had fully recovered and ready to engage in competitive football and even don the national colours if given the opportunity.

But the head coach of the Black Stars, Kwasi Appiah, has different intentions. He told Kumasi-based radio station, Metro FM, yesterday that the doors would definately be closed on players who are clubless on the countdown to the World Cup in Brazil.

He said: “if a player is without a club, it will be difficult to assess such a player to merit a place in the team,” adding that the continued absence of Mensah from regular activity rules him out  of the scheme now.

He stated, however, that if a player has a club but failed to command a regular place in that team, he still could be considered in the final squad, particularly when the player has been part of the Stars previous campaigns and his role clearly defined, that player has a great chance to make it into the final World Cup squad.

This latest elucidation of the criteria for selection into the World Cup squad by Coach Appiah makes  the likes of Michael Essien, Abdul Majeed Warris and goalkeeper Fatau Dauda likely elements for his final World Cup squad.