Ex-Ghana Captain Stephen Appiah Describes England Selection As ‘Disrespectful’

Not every country treats every international friendly in the same light, and Ghana are taking their clash with England on Tuesday far more seriously than England are. Having beaten Wales comfortably on Saturday, Fabio Capello has opted to rest several start players ahead of the friendly with Ghana at Wembley Stadium, sending all three of Chelsea’s representatives (including captain John Terry) as well as Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney. Leaving out the big names against whom the Ghana squad was apparently looking forward to playing has been described by ex-Ghana captain Stephen Appiah as disrespectful, according to quotes from the BBC:

Ghanaians are disappointed. They really wanted to see those players. The players wish they could play against JT [Terry].

It’s their dream to play against Wayne Rooney, Frank Lampard and all these players. Maybe some of them will not play in that stadium again.

On top of the Ghana team itself being disappointed, the match has seen the highest allocation of away tickets ever sold at an England home match - 21,000 tickets have been sold to Ghana supporters, and there’s a very real fear that they’re going to see a relatively disappointing display. That might be mitigated somewhat by the very real possibility that they’ll watch their side beat England at Wembley Stadium, though.

Of course, such a result would only see the English fans who’ve paid top dollar to attend get more annoyed than usual. Fans are already complaining that the FA should have warned them that this match might not feature a full-strength side, which strikes me as a little bit ludicrous. It’s an international friendly in the middle of a packed club campaign and immediately after a Euro 2012 qualifier, which has always been code for ‘we’re going to punt this game’.

Really, the fuss about the squad is being overblown by both sides here. The England-Ghana match is an exhibition and should always have been treated as such. There’s no reason for England to be playing their top lineup, and although the Ghanaians might consider that disrespectful, Fabio Capello is simply doing the right thing here. Tired players need resting and those at the fringes need a runout, making the team selection entirely justified.