Ghana go into World Cup sans top two goalkeepers

ACCRA: Ghanahadtoleavetheirtoptwogoalkeepers out of their World Cup squad ater they were injured ahead of the announcement on Monday.

First-choice goalkeeper Jojo Wollacot broke his finger in the warmup ahead of a game with his English club side Charlton Athletic this weekend and has now been ruled out of the World Cup, while backup Richard Ofori has a knee injury, according to his South African club Orlando Pirates.

That means Ghana has been forced to dig deep into their reserves for the tournament in Qatar.

Lawrence Ati-zigi, who plays his club soccer in Switzerland, is likely to start the World Cup in goal. The other two goalkeepers named in the squad are Abdul Manaf Nurudeen, who has two caps, and 19-year-old Ibrahim Danlad, who is yet to play for Ghana.asexpected,ghanaselecteddefendertariq Lamptey,aformerenglandyouthinternational,and forward Inaki Williams, who has one cap for Spain, ater they changed allegiance this year.

Ayew brothers Andre and Jordan also made the squad as did Arsenal midfielder Thomas Partey. Jeffrey Schlupp and Joseph Paintsil were let out.

The 26-year-old Wollacot will need surgery on his finger, Charlton said on Monday ater the club gave him two days to see if he had a chance of making the World Cup.

Ghana is one of only three African teams to have reached the quarterfinals of the World Cup, a feat it achieved in South Africa in 2010, but it goes to this year9s tournament at a low point.

Itwaseliminatedinthegroupstageoftheafrican Cup of Nations at the start of the year in its worst performance at the continental championship. That led to coach Milovan Rajevac being fired in January and replaced with Oto Addo.

Lamptey and Williams are among a new group of players Addo has introduced to the team.

Ghanaplaysportugalinitsfirstgameattheworld Cup and will also face South Korea and Uruguay in Group H. That final group game against Uruguay is a rematch of the 2010 quarterfinal, when Luis Suarez infamously blocked a goal-bound header with his arm late in extra time to deny Ghana a place in the semifinals. Asamoah Gyan missed the penalty and Uruguay won in a shootout.