Local Stars gear up for COSAFA tourney

The local Black Stars are gearing up for this year’s COSAFA Cup in South Africa and are billed to play as guest of South Sudan in a friendly international at the Juba Stadium tomorrow.

The match forms part of the Stars’ preparation for the 2016 CHAN qualifiers and the May 17-30 COSAFA Cup, a tournament meant for Southern African nations in which Ghana and Tanzania are playing as guest teams.

Coach Maxwell Konadu’s side are scheduled to join the regional tourney from May 24 — at the quarterfinals stage — where they will face the winner of Group B, which comprises Lesotho, Tanzania, Madagascar and Swaziland.

In their build-up to the tournament, the local Stars defeated division one side Asokwa Deportivo 2-0 at Obuasi yesterday with Medeama SC forward Nathaniel Asamoah scoring a brace.

Coach Konadu opened camping at Obuasi last Monday with 26 players including 2014 World Cup goalkeeping duo Fatau Dauda and Stephen Adams, among other top performing players in the local league. 

He is expected to trim his squad to 20 for the South Sudan friendly and the COSAFA tourney.

Daily Graphic