Posted by Black Stars duo, Kamaldeen Sulemana and Ransford-Yeboah Königsdörffer have withdrawn from the Black Meteors squad for the TotalEnergies U23 African Cup of Nations (AFCON), while Ernest Nuamah is expected to team up with the rest of the team in Morocco.
Kamaldeen Sulemana, Ransford-Yeboah Königsdörffer and Ernest Nuamah are part of the 29-man preliminary squad named by Ibrahim Tanko for a training tour which commenced a week ago in Cairo, Egypt.
The trio were excused for the first week of the camping due to their involvement with the Black Stars for 2023 AFCON qualifier against Madagascar in Antananarivo which was played on Sunday and ended 0-0.
After the game, the trio were expected to team up with the rest of the Black Meteors team. However, reports gathered by MahamaShaibu.com stipulates that Ransford-Yeboah Königsdörffer and Kamaldeen Sulemana will not join the team, while Ernest Nuamah is expected to team up with the rest of the team in Morocco on Wednesday, June 21.
The Black Meteors are currently in Cairo, Egypt wrapping up preparations for the 2023 AFCON to be played in Morocco from Saturday, June 24 to Saturday, July 8.
The national U-23 team will take on 14-time Egyptian champions Zamalek in a friendly encounter at the Zamalek Sports Complex on Tuesday, June 20, 2023 at 2:30pm GMT.
On Thursday, the team drew 1-1 with current holders of the U-23 AFCON trophy Egypt in a friendly match at the Alexandria Stadium.
The Black Meteors after Tuesday’s friendly game against Zamalek will travel to Morocco, where they’ll wrap up preparations for their games against Congo, Morocco and Guinea.
Ghana will kickoff their campaign against Congo on Saturday, June 24, before playing Morocco on Tuesday, June 27 and then Guinea on Friday, June 30.
The U-23 AFCON will serve as qualifiers for the next Olympics in Paris, France. The top three teams from the competition will automatically qualify to the Olympics, while the 4th-placed team will play against a team from Asia in a playoffs to decide the final slot at the Olympics.
Ghana missed out on the 2020 Olympics in Japan after finishing 4th at the U-23 AFCON in Egypt – 2019. The Black Meteors are yet to play at the Olympic Games since 2004 in Greece.