Coach Appiah's snub of Boakye Yiadom in 30-man squad a big shame

I have been forced to write this article because I supported the re-appointment of Kwesi Appiah to take charge of the national team in the hope that he will give the right players chances to represent Ghana. Sadly, I found it shocking and disappointing that Coach Appiah left out in-form striker, Richmond Boakye Yiadom in the 30-man squad announced last week for three games in June and July.

If there is any Ghanaian striker hot in-form at the moment, then surely it must be the 24-year-old who spent the second half of the just ended European season banging in goals in avalanches on loan at Serbian giants, Red Star Belgrade.

How a player who scored a total of 16 goals (12 in league and 4 in Cup from February to May) failed to make the Black Stars 30-man squad named at the end of May beats my imagination. To borrow the famous cliché attributed to local movie star, Lil Win, I can't think far!

For starters, Boakye started the season with now bankrupt Italian Serie B side, Latina whom he joined for €2m last summer on a 3-year deal from Atalanta and scored 3 goals.

He then made the loan switch to Red Star Belgrade in the January transfer window, making his debut in the 2-0 win over Novi Pazar on February 18.

Next game a week later, away to Backa and Boakye opened his account with a double in a 3-1 victory and consistently followed it up by scoring at least every other game to power Red Star to a runner-up spot at the end of the Serbian top flight, finishing a mere three points behind rivals, Partizan Belgrade, the same side they lost 0-1 to in the Serbian Cup final just last Saturday.

In a nutshell, Boakye scored a total of 19 goals in all competitions in the just concluded season, 16 of them in the last three months and the Ghana FA and national team coach think he doesn't deserve a place in a 30-man Black Stars side?

Well I won't question the merit any of the 30 players called up or especially the four strikers named but which of them can match the form of Richmond Boakye-Yiadom? So many questions, too few answers!

For now, Boakye's last cap for Ghana remains the 3-2 victory in a friendly away to Congo in Brazaville back in September 2015, a match in which he scored, but not many can disagree (not even Coach Appiah) that based on his recent form, the 24-year-old hitman most definitely deserves a place in the team that will face Ethiopia on June 11, Mexico on June 28 and USA in July.