The ladies wept! Dede Ayew has been left of squad to face Sudan Photo Credit: Senyuiedzorm Adadevoh

The Black Stars are to camp in Nairobi ahead of their crucial match against Sudan. The clash of the Group I leaders promises to be as serious as a heart attack. The Sudanese came to Kumasi and showed what they were made off. If that wasn’t convincing, the group standings show that they’ve  definitely closed the gap. The two teams are neck and neck with Sudan poised to inflict what would be a painful defeat to the World Cup quarter-finalists. Nevertheless, the confidence of the Stars is still sky high. Coming off high profile friendly games against England and Brazil and earning respectable results as well as their easy brushing aside of Swaziland, the Stars have every reason to be confident.

The camp being organized by the Football Association may indicate the seriousness with which the FA regards the tie. Or not. The squad list is out and there is one glaring omission in the players picked by Goran Stevanovic.

Noooooo. Not Richard ‘Olele’ Kingson. Look closer. Who? Dede Ayew? Really? Something about recovering from an injury. Except he played in a European Champions League match between Marseille and Borussia Dortmund. And scored. TWICE! earning him top player honors. All this after the phone lines at many radio stations buzzed with startled fans questioning the  rationale behind Plavi’s selection.

Since he assumed the job as Black Stars coach Stevanovic has spent a lot of time outside of Ghana, jetting all over Europen watching Ghanaian talent. This despite his solemn promise at his unveiling to spend a lot of time in Ghana monitoring local talent. This decision means that in moving from place to place he might have missed some of Dede’s matches because he’s been in transit at various airports.

There were four Ghanaian players in Champions League action this week – Dede Ayew, Jordan Ayew, Mubarak Wakaso, and Emmanuel Frimpong. None of them made the squad. The main talking points are going to surround Dede’s exclusion though because of his consistency and his willingness to give over 100 percent to the team. I have talked about this commitment and fighting spirit he exhibits on this blog time and time again and all I can say is it’s a pity Plavi does not read my blog!!!