I thought it was fake - German-born Ghana forward Braydon Manu opens up on shocking Black Stars invite

I thought it was fake - German-born Ghana forward Braydon Manu opens up on shocking Black Stars invite

Lukman Mumuni
updated at April 12, 2023 at 7:50 PM
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  • New Black Stars forward, Braydon Manu, says he was shocked to get a call up
  • The German-born forward was given his maiden invite during the international break
  • Braydon Manu is yet to make his debut for the Black Stars

German-born Ghanaian forward, Braydon Manu, has said he was shocked after earning an invite to the Black Stars, despite playing few minutes at club side, Darmstadt.

The 24-year-old was given his first call up for the 2022 World Cup qualifiers against Ethiopia and South Africa last week.

In an interview with Tema-based Radio Station, Ahortor FM, the Darmstadt attacker disclosed he didn't think he merited a call up after playing few games this season.

I thought it was fake - German-born Ghana forward Braydon Manu opens up on shocking Black Stars invite
I thought it was fake - German-born Ghana forward Braydon Manu opens up on shocking Black Stars invite. SOURCE: Twitter/ @ghanafaofficial @dav_stevenson
Source: Twitter
“I was surprised because at first, I thought it was fake. I didn’t believe it. First of all, I had a call from the technical director [Berhard Lippert],” he said on Ahortor FM.
“I was happy but still I was like how? Because to be honest, I had not played that much to say that I merited a call because I’ve proved [myself].”

Manu joined the team for both games, but could not make an appearance in any of the games, despite traveling with the team to Cape Coast and Johannesburg.

He was one of the players who were given late invite by the head coach, following travel restrictions and injuries to some players.

The former Hallescher winger, who was born to Ghanaian parents in Germany, has played two games in the ongoing Bundesliga II season, and scored just a goal for his club.

Manu began his football career at SC Condor, before joining LSK Hansa and then moved to Braunschweig II. Later, he sealed a move to Hallescher before joining Darmstadt in 2019.

The Black Stars won the game against Ethiopia and lost to South Africa to slip to second place on the table.

Meanwhile, YEN.com.gh spoke to sports journalist, Herbert Boakye Yiadom of The Finder, who says it's absurd for the technical team to invite players who do not merit a call up.

"This is worrying, even the player says he does not merit the call up. How do our coaches make these call up, do they even scout? The player has not played enough to earn a call up," he told YEN.com.gh.
"I think this issue should be scrutinize so we can have an end to these kind of call ups," he added.

The team will face Zimbabwe next month in a two legged fixture as the World Cup qualifiers continues before the Nations Cup in Cameroon next year.

The Black Stars are in Group C of next year's Africa Cup of Nations, alongside Morocco, Gabon and Comoros Island.

Ghana failed to qualify for the World Cup in Russia, 2018, and will be hoping to make it to Qatar 2022.

Earlier, YEN.com.gh reported that, new Black Stars striker, Daniel Kofi-Kyereh, is yet to make an impression with the Ghana national team, but his sense of fashion is absolutely top notch.

The striker received his maiden call up to the Black Stars a week ago and played as Ghana defeated Ethiopia 1-0 in Cape Coast.

In photos posted on the player's Instagram page, Daniel Kofi-Kyereh is a drip lord, as he stuns in glamorous photos.

Authors
Lukman Mumuni photo
Lukman Mumuni
Lukman Abdul Mumin is a Sports Journalist based in Accra, Ghana. He has been writing for the past five years. Lukman joined Sports Brief as an Editor for the Local Desk in 2022.
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