Outspoken veteran coach Joseph Emmanuel Sarpong has taken a swipe at Black Stars Head Coach Otto Addo for Daniel Afriyie Barnieh’s late cameo against Nicagarua last Tuesday.
The Hearts of Oak striker was introduced in the Nicaragua friendly in second-half stoppage time and didn’t touch the ball as Ghana recorded a 1-0 victory against their opponents.
According to coach Sarpong, Afriyie Barnieh deserved more game time as he was one of the most decorated players in the Ghana Premier League considering his exploits with the Black Stalletites, Black Galaxies, and Hearts of Oak.
Sarpong stated in an interview with GNA Sports that the late substitution by Otto Addo would demoralise the young football prodigy because he was not given the opportunity to showcase his footballing prowess.
”I don’t know what actually went into that substitution; perhaps he made it because he wanted a local player to just take part.
”Barnieh has proved with the various national teams that he is a good player, and that late substitution could be demoralising for the player. Perhaps it is a demonstration of his disregard for our league in terms of its competitiveness,” he said.
Afriyie Barnieh would be hopeful of making Ghana’s shortlist to Qatar with Otto Addo set to name his squad in coming weeks.
