体坛英语新闻：Ghana names provisional World Cup squad

ACCRA, May 12 (Xinhua) -- Ghana Black Stars head coach James Kwasi Appiah named Monday a 26-man squad for the summer 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.

The 53-year-old revealed his squad at a heavily-packed press conference at the headquarters of the Ghana Football Association ( GFA) in Accra on Monday.

The list consists of three goalkeepers, eight defenders, eleven midfielders and four strikers.

Stephen Adams, who plays for Aduana Stars in the premier league, is the only home-based player included in the list.

The surprise inclusion in the squad were David Accam and Jeffery Schlupp.

Schlupp, who plays for promoted English Premier League side Leicester City, can play as a left-back, left-wing and as an out- and-out striker.

He has helped the club get promotion into the next season of the Barclays Premier League.

The 21-year-old made his Ghana debut in November 2011 as a second half substitute in a pre-2012 Africa Cup of Nations friendly against Gabon.

Udinese midfielder Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu, who missed the 2010 World Cup finals after picking up an injury during the team's pre- tournament camping base, is set to make his debut.

Black Stars Skipper Asamoah Gyan and Milan-based Sulley Muntari remain the only players in the group who will be engaging in their third consecutive World Cup finals after both featured at the 2006 and 2010 events.

The headlines in the local media were filled with speculations of a 30-man squad purportedly from Appiah but the coach insisted the list was fake.

The list will be pruned to 23 after the team's friendly with Holland on May 31.

Ghana has been drawn in Group G of the FIFA World Cup alongside the United States, Germany and Portugal, and will play its opening Group game at the Arena das Dunas in Natal against the United States.

Ghana's provisional World Cup squad:

Goalkeepers: Adam Kwarasey (Stromsgodset); Fatau Dauda ( Orlando Pirates); and Stephen Adams (Aduana Stars).

Defenders: Samuel Inkoom (Dnipro); Daniel Opare (Standard Liege); Jonathan Mensah (Evian TG); Harrison Afful (Esperance); Jeff Schlupp (Leicester City); John Boye (Stade Rennes); Jerry Akaminko (Eskisehirspor); and Rashid Sumaila (Mamelodi Sundowns).

Midfielders: Sulley Muntari (AC Milan); Mubarak Wakaso (Rubin Kazan); Mohammed Rabiu (Kuban Krasnodar); Michael Essien (AC Milan) ; Emmanuel Agyemang Badu (Udinese); Afriyie Acquah(Parma); Andre Ayew (Olympique Marseille); Kwadwo Asamoah (Juventus); Christian Atsu (Vitesse Arnhem); Albert Adomah (Middlesbrough); and David Accam (Helsingborg).

Strikers: Jordan Ayew (Sochaux); Abdul Majeed Waris ( Valenciennes); Asamoah Gyan (Al Ain); and Kevin Prince Boateng ( Schalke 04).