Stars face Russia tonight

The senior national team, the Black Stars, are in the Russian capital of Moscow to face their Russian counterparts, Sbornaya, in a friendly international at the 28,000-seater Lokomotiv Stadium tonight at 4.00pm.

Coach Avram Grant led the team out last Saturday night after their 1-1 draw with Rwanda in the final qualifiers of the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations. 

Apart from Bechem United’s striker Abednego Tetteh and Wa All Stars’ goalkeeper Richard Ofori, Coach Grant maintained the squad he named for the Rwanda encounter.

For the Russians, who host the next World Cup, tomorrow’s encounter will be their first game on home soil after their abortive Euro 2016 campaign.

Coach Stanislav Cherchesov had long picked a 23-man squad for the game as he appeared determined to chart a new course for a side that had lost their glitter under Coach Fabio Capello. 

He is expected to deploy the likes of Fyodor Smolov, his most prolific target man, defender Vasiliy Berezutskiy, and goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev, their most safest pair of hands.

Coach Grant is expected to make changes to his side, with goalkeeper Adam Kwarasey expected to take over from the unimpressive Razak Ibrahim. He also has the likes of Harrison Afful, Daniel Amartey, John Boye, Jonathan Mensah, skipper Agyemang Badu, Jordan Ayew  Wakasu Mubarack and Christian Atsu to hold their own against the Russians.