Accra, May 23, GNA - Ghana's Black Stars search for a solid central defender seem to have an end in sight, taking into following the emergence of young and budding central defenders in recent times. One of such new finds is South Africa based Jonathan Quartey, who is of course one of the best solutions to Ghana's search, having demonstrated his true qualities right from the juvenile stages to his recent excellent performances with the Black Stars.

From all indications, Quartey presents to the technical team, a quality option to any of the regular defenders who played for the Stars at the World Cup and the Nation's cup, or even a perfect replacement. With the continuous absence of deputy captain of the Black Stars, John Mensah as a result of injuries and the imminent departure of Eric Addo with the age factor under consideration, the handlers of the national team will definitely have a solution in the 21 year old well built central defender.

Quartey, who plies his trade with South African side, Kaiser Chiefs, after thorough observations, seem to posses the qualities of a good central defender and the exposure for international assignments. Right from his days with the national under-17 team, the Black Starlets, where the nation won silver at the Africa Youth Championship, to book a qualification to the World Cup, Quartey has demonstrated the hallmark of a quality material.

There is no doubt when he ended as one of the best central defenders after the tournament in Gambia and has since contributed immensely to the national under 21 and 23 teams, the Black Satellites and Meteors, respectively in other international assignments. Even though Quartey left the local scene for quite sometime, he is on record to have made significant contributions to the successes of Kpando Heart of Lions and Obuasi Ashantigold where he ensured, the latter picked a place in the Confederation of Africa Football (CAF) Champions League Competition after placing second in the local premiership.

The defender after the Premier League took home personal achievements of being voted as the second best defender after the premiership.

Right from the onset, it was obvious Quartey was destined to rise to greater heights and his recent entry into the national team was therefore no surprise.

With a height of 186 meters, the defender has little difficulty in dealing with aerial balls and combined with his strength, he is just effective on the ground.

Count on him to intercept dangerous balls from opposing teams, initiate attack from the back and deliver accurate free kicks from which he has scored most goals in his career. Quartey whose career dates back to a division one side, Inter Allies, before joining Heart of Lions and an onward transfer to Ashantigold, a move many thought was to link up with coach David Duncan who coached him during his juvenile days with the Starlets, has so far capped eight times for the Black Stars since his entry into the team in June 2008.

His first outing against Tanzania for the Black Stars gave the technical handlers of the team, no option than to extend regular invitations to him to feature for the country in other friendly and competitive matches.

Among the friendly and competitive games he has featured in for the Stars, includes games against South Africa, Egypt, Tunisia, Lesotho, Libya and Gabon. No wonder, he remains one of the most sought after Ghanaian players on the international market and with the transfer market in Europe set to reopen soon, Quartey looks good for a better move. the next soccer season.

He told GNA Sports that playing in South Africa has given him adequate exposure for the big leagues in Europe as he is on record to have won the South African League, "Telekom Knockout Cup, "MTN Top 8 Championship Cup", and scored a historic winning goal against Manchester United in the 2008 Vodacom Challenge Cup with his South African Club, Kaiser Chiefs.

Quartey added that the opportunity provided him in the Black Stars team has also enhanced his profile and he is looking forward to capitalised on it to take his career to a higher level. Speaking on his future with the Black Stars, Quartey noted that he is in the team for good, even though he reckoned that it will require hard work and determination to survive.

"I'm aware of the challenges but I'm ready for it. All I need to do is to intensify my personal training regimen and follow strictly the instructions of the technical men and success will be mine." He stated. The defender has however had some bad sides in recent times, especially with his South African club side, after he fell out with the coach of the team following an injury he sustained while playing for the national team.

This affected his regular outing for his Club, but he fortunately ended the season on a good note as he featured on regularly at the latter stages of the league.

Quartey is bent on helping Ghana to secure another World Cup slot and is motivated by the presence of his fans in South Africa and called on all Ghanaians to rally behind the team to realise that goal.