Abukari Damba, a former goalkeeper for Real Tamale United (RTU) and the Black Stars, has chosen who should be Ghana’s starting goalie in the World Cup.
For the forthcoming 2022 FIFA World Cup, which will be hosted by Qatar, former Real Tamale United and Black Stars goalkeeper Abukari Damba has chosen Joseph Wollacott to head the goalkeeping department for the Black Stars.
A 55-man provisional list has been prepared by the Black Stars of Ghana’s technical team. Otto Addo named five goalkeepers to the preliminary squad of 55 players announced ahead of the team’s preparations for the Mundial, which begins on November 20, 2022.
Ibrahim Danlad of Asante Kotoko, Abdul Manaf Nurudeen of Eupen in the Belgian League, Richard Ofori of Orlando Pirates in South Africa, Lawrence Ati-Zigi of FC St. Gallen, and Joseph Wollacott of Charlton Athletic in England were the goalkeepers listed as potentially being included in the 26-man squad for the final trip to Qatar.
In an interview with Ghana News Agency (GNA), the former goalkeeper’s coach for Accra Hearts of Oak named Jojo Wollacott as his first-choice goalie for the Black Stars of Ghana at the Mundial.
Damba stated, “We played the qualifiers and had one goalkeeper who had shown consistency throughout, and that is Jojo Wollacott, the most used among all the keepers so far, all things being equal, he might be the first choice.”
Damba also lamented the absence of gifted goalkeepers from Ghana’s squad, especially when compared to the 1990s when the team had a wealth of talented goalkeepers.
“One of our challenges is that we don’t have goalkeepers who are very gifted in the team, in as much as we would not be satisfied with their performances because of comparisons. We see other goalkeepers playing for their clubs and their nations performing well, so we do comparisons, but I’m very positive that we can do well,” he told GNA.
