Meteors Off To Portugal

Ghana?s Olympic squad, the Black Meteors on Wednesday started their one-month training tour in Portugal ahead of the finals of the Athens games.

The Black Meteors left Accra Tuesday night for Portugal where they joined coach, Mariano Barreto, who left much earlier to await the arrival of the team.

Coach Barreto called up eleven locally based players who would be joined later on by the foreign legion.

Ghana?s foreign-based players presently engaged in pre-season training with their various clubs have been excused by the coach but would pitch camp at a later date.

Mariano Barreto called up 26 players and included Black Stars captain, Stephen Appiah and Kotoko?s William Tierro as part of the team?s three senior players for the Athens Olympics.

Though the two are above the age 23, they still qualify for the Olympics, as required by the FIFA regulations governing the Olympic soccer tournament.

The local players who made the Portugal trip are the goalkeeping trio of George Owu and Mohammed Alhassan (Asante Kotoko) Isaac Amoako (AshantiGold) Dan Coleman (Hearts of Oak) Saliu Muntari (Sekondi Hasaacas) Yusif Chibsah, Charles Taylor and William Tierro (Kotoko) Abubakar Yahuza (King Faisal) and Lamine Nasir and Shaibu Yakubu (AshantiGold)

The foreign-based players who would be joining the team in Portugal are:

John Mensah (Chievo, Italy), Emmanuel Pappoe (Moadon Sport Ashdod, Israel), John Paintsil (Maccabi Tel Aviv), Patrick Villars (SK Bucheon, South Korea), Michael Essien (Olympique Lyon, France), Sule Muntari (Udinese, Italy), Stephen Appiah (Juventus, Italy), Razak Ibrahim (Empoli, Italy), Anthony Obodai (Ajax, Holland) and Derrick Boateng (AIK Stockholm, Sweden), Isaac Boakye (Arminia Bielefeld, Germany), Ishmael Addo (Maccabi Tel Aviv, Israel), Razak Pimpong (Midtjyland, Denmark), Kwadwo Poku (Midtjyland, Denmark), and Asamoah Gyan (Udinese, Italy).

Mariano Barreto would select a 20-man squad from the 27 players called to represent Ghana at summer Games slated for August 13 to 29.

Ghana?s training tour is expected to be crowned with a four-cornered tournament involving the Meteors, Benfica, Paris St. Germain and European Champions League holders, FC Porto, between August 7 and 10.

Ghana?s Olympic squad, the Black Meteors has been drawn in Group B together with Paraguay, Japan and Italy for the soccer category of the Athens Olympic games.

The Black Meteors is one of Africa?s four representatives including Morocco, Tunisia and Mali that secured qualification.

Ghana the first African country to win a medal in the soccer category in Barcelona, Spain in 1992 failed to make an appearance in Sydney, Australia, four years ago.