Black Stars Coach Happy

Black Stars coach Milovan Rajevac is delighted with the recovery rate of injured key players of the senior national team. The Stars looked like a depleted side just a month ago after injuries to Sulley Muntari, Laryea Kingston, Asamoah Gyan and John Mensah.

Indeed the signs did not look good for the team after a drab 0:0 draw in a friendly last month against the Carthage Eagles of Tunisia with most of the key players missing in action.

But Laryea Kingston and Sulley Muntari were on target for Hearts of Midlothian and Inter Milan last weekend while deputy Skipper John Mensah played the entire duration of his Lyon’s league game in the French league 1. Although Michael Essien and Shilla Illiasu are yet to regain their fitness, the signs bode well for Ghana, and Milovan Rajevac is happy with his good fortune.

“I’m very much happy with the situation now,” he said.“Muntari scored a goal against Juventus and Palermo so we are monitoring everything that is happening with our players. But it’s very good news.”

With the World Cup and African cup of Nations qualifiers not due until March 2009, the Stars coach stressed that he is keen on inviting new players into the team.“We would not include too many players into the team,” the Stars coach said. “We would include some of the players who are returning from injury and maybe few more.

“According to the Serbian, “We have enough time to be ready for our first game against Benin.”

The Black Stars are drawn together with Sudan, Benin and Mali in Group D of the qualifiers. They are expected to play their last friendly match in February 2009, by which time the coach would have had a clear idea about the players he can rely on for the qualifiers.