Kevin Prince Boateng’s place in the squad has been secured. Now, can he deliver?

Kwesi Appiah named his final 23-man squad for Brazil shortly after the friendly against the Dutch.The three dropped players were David Accam, Jerry Akaminko and Jeffrey Schlupp.

According to the final squad listings from all the 32 teams, Ghana’s team is the youngest in the competition with an average age of 24.9. This would be the perfect time to stifle those giggles and move on to the squad numbering of the team. Andre Dede Ayew will be wearing 10, the number his father made his. Captain Asamoah Gyan will be wearing his usual number 3. When you see the number 6, know that it is Afriyie Acquah. Get familiar as he may be spending a lot of time on the pitch. The rest of the squad numbers are here.

Sadly, Jerry Akaminko’s ankle injury during the game ruled him out of the World Cup and of the privilege of a squad number. Akaminko was sure to be on the plane if he hadn’t sustained the injury. It would have been his first World Cup and it’s always a shame to see a player robbed of the opportunity at the biggest sporting event in the World due to injury.We wish him a speedy recovery as he begins his journey to full fitness.

David Accam quickly got over the World Cup omission and scored for his club a day after being cut. Given his form, he is definitely going to get more opportunities to represent Ghana in the future.

Jeffrey Schlupp’s season is over so holiday it was for the Leicester City left back. He had a chance to prevent the lone Van Persie goal in the friendly but slipped agonizingly at the last second. I for one thought that the left back position is such a problem area that picking him even as a backup was a given. Shows you how little I know about Kwesi Appiah’s thinking.

It can’t be easy dropping players for the premier footballing tournament in the World. Hard work might pay off for Accam and Schlupp though. They are both young and a good season in the top flight of the English league will mean another year of experience against top competition. Schlupp will be knocking on the doors of the Black Stars come the Afcon 2015.