In-form Joseph Paintsil has been officially informed he will not be part of Ghana’s final squad for the 2022 Fifa World Cup in Qatar.
This occurred when Black Stars head coach Otto Addo contacted the KRC Genk winger personally, Footy-Ghana.com is reliably informed
Signs of Paintsil possibly being snubbed for the Mundial manifested in comments made by the coach when he sought to explain the 24-year-old’s commission for international friendlies against Brazil and Nicaragua in September.
Coach Addo suggested that Paintsil’s choices during the international break in the summer – when he excused himself from the Kirin Cup tournament in Japan – had cost him his spot as he had seen other players ahead of him.
“He was very close to making the squad, but we have to make some tough decisions,” the Ghana coach stated in a press conference ahead of the game against Brazil.
“The decisions are now even tougher now with the new players joining in. Joseph is doing well but I feel it would have been good for him to play the Japan and Chile matches to show more of himself but he had some problems and decided to leave the team.
“Also, he wanted to start with his team [Genk], this one I can understand. Surely I can just judge what I see.
“For me, I can only judge what I see and at the moment, I see others ahead of him. But I think Joseph is a good player. He’s not with the squad now, it doesn’t mean everything is gone. Anything can still happen, we are monitoring all the players, and their performances so the gate is not closed.”
Despite the September snub, Paintsil – who had at the time been directly involved in six goals in 8 outings for Genk – continued showing good form at his club, extending his goal contribution to an impressive 11 out of 13 league games – 6 goals, 5 assists.
Otto Addo and his technical team’s stance on Paintsil has remained unchanged with the player informed he did not make the cut after receiving some hope following his inclusion in a 55-man prelist sent to Fifa weeks ago.
Ghana’s final squad for the Mundial is expected to be announced anytime before November 14.
The Black Stars are housed in Group H alongside Portugal, Uruguay and South Korea. They face the Portuguese in their opening match.
