Orlando Pirates goalkeeper Richard Ofori was ruled out of the Ghanaian 2022 World Cup squad due to the fluid in his knee that was aggravated in the MTN8 final against AmaZulu at the Moses Mabhida Stadium last weekend.
Ofori did not make the Black Stars squad under coach Otto Addo that was announced on Monday.
However, iDiski Times has learnt that Ofori aggravated his knee against Usuthu, which resulted in him missing the Carling Black Label Cup over the weekend and subsequently the World Cup finals.
“Ofori’s knee got worse during the MTN8 final in Durban and that is the reason why he was ruled out of the World Cup,” said the insider to the iDiski Times.
Ofori was already doubtful heading to the MTN8 final after he suffered the injury against the same AmaZulu in the league match earlier last month at Orlando Stadium.
He missed the 2-0 victory over Golden Arrows, a 3-0 victory over Mamelodi Sundowns in the MTN8 second leg semi final in Polokwane.
He also sat out against Kaizer Chiefs in the Soweto Derby late last month at FNB Stadium, although he was fit to be on the bench to deputise Siyabonga Mpontshane.
Pirates were reserving him to be fit for the MTN8, the game he played but it has come at the cost as he has now ruled out of the biggest sporting event in the world football. With Ofori out, this means PSL will have no player in the World Cup finals for the first time since 2006 in Germany, as Ofori was the only hope.
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This has represented an enormous blow for Ofori’s national team career as he also missed out of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) finals earlier this year in Cameroon due to the injury he suffered against Bafana Bafana in the 2021 AFCON qualifiers.
Ghana will also be without another goalkeeper Jojo Wollacot as well as midfielder Baba Iddrisu due to various degrees of injuries.
Serbia-based midfielder Samuel Owusu as well as experienced Mubarak Wakaso also failed to make the cut.
There were also no places for impressive and in-form duo Jeffrey Schlupp and Joseph Paintsil.
Ghana, who are the last nation from Africa to reach the quarter final of the same competition in 2010, begin their World Cup campaign against Portugal on November 24, before facing South Korea four days later and concluding the group stage against Uruguay on December 2.
Ghana, who head to Qatar for the World Cup desperately hoping to avoid a repeat of their last major tournament in the AFCON in Cameroon earlier this year, are also not at their best at the moment.
Ghana has won just two of their 12 matches this year.
They were held to a 1-1 draw by the Central African Republic, ranked 132 in the world by FIFA, in their first AFCON qualifier in June, before being thrashed 4-1 by Japan and drawing 0-0 with Chile.
