Africa-Press – Ghana. Ghana defender Baba Rahman is set to compete in his first World Cup after being included in the final squad for the Qatar tournament on Monday. The Reading left-back was on Ghana’s preliminary list for the 2014 World Cup but was left out as the country went to Brazil without a natural left-back.
“On a personal note, no [I wasn’t disappointed] because I was with the team for a year and never played so I really had doubts in terms of a call-up for me,” Rahman told Accra-based Citi FM in 2016.
Rahman has since been a regular for the Black Stars, appearing in four Africa Cup of Nations tournaments. The Chelsea player was instrumental in Ghana’s second-place finish in 2015.
The 28-year-old has been one of Reading’s best players since returning from a hamstring injury, and he will be full of confidence heading into the World Cup.
Rahman was solid in Reading’s 2-1 victory over Hull City before the World Cup break on Saturday. This follows his excellent performance in the defeat at Watford last Tuesday, which earned him praise from Reading manager Paul Ince.
“Some of the decision making left me dumbfounded at times – [I am thinking] what do you see when you make that decision? But they did try, gave their all, Rahman was excellent,” Ince said. Rahman is Ghana’s first-choice left-back and will most likely start against Portugal, South Korea, and Uruguay.
Black Stars will begin their training camp in Abu Dhabi on Monday. They will play Switzerland in their final pre-tournament friendly on Thursday, November 17 before travelling to Qatar for the World Cup. Ghana begin their World Cup campaign on November 24 against former European champions Portugal at Doha’s Stadium 974.
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