Sulley Muntari is the most high-profile absentee from the Ghana
squad named by coach Milovan Rajevac for next month's Africa Cup of
Nations in Angola.
The Inter Milan midfielder, one of the star players for the
Black Stars during the 2008 competition on home soil, has been left
out of the final 23-man squad by the Serbian coach, who opted to
incorporate several youngsters ahead of the World Cup in June.
Six players from the victorious FIFA Under-20 World Cup side
are therefore named, including Dominic Adiyiah, the top scorer at
October's competition in Egypt.
Midfielder Michael Essien is in the final squad despite
currently being sidelined by a hamstring injury - the Chelsea ace
one of four Barclays Premier League players in the team along with
Richard Kingson from Wigan Athletic, Fulham's John Pantsil and John
Mensah, of Sunderland.
But Hearts winger Laryea Kingston misses out due to a
hamstring problem of his own, while Stephen Appiah is also a
noteworthy omission.
The west Africans travel early next week to a training camp
in Nelspruit ahead of the January 10-31 competition.
The 2008 semi-finalists are drawn in a tough Group B for the
tournament, alongside Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso and Togo, against
whom they begin their campaign on January 11 in Cabinda.
