Appiah blasts ´disrespectful´ England

Former Ghana captain Stephen Appiah has blasted England’s decision to rest star players for their friendly on Tuesday.

Appiah, 30, is not a part of the Black Stars squad for

the Wembley fixture, but he said his nation’s football fans – 21,000 of which

will be in London for their first clash against England – will be disappointed

at Fabio Capello’s decision to rest John Terry, Ashley Cole, Frank Lampard,

Wayne Rooney and Michael Dawson.Manchester United’s on-loan Sunderland striker Danny Welbeck

was called up in place of injured Tottenham winger Aaron Lennon, who was only selected

along with Liverpool’s Andy Carroll and Wolves’ Matt Jarvis as replacements for

Terry and company.

“A lot of Ghanaians have travelled from America,

Canada, from around the world. It’s a dream come true. It’s huge, it’s big and

Ghanaians are going to follow the match,” Cesena midfielder Appiah told the BBC.”Ghanaians are disappointed. They really wanted to

see those players. The players wish they could play against JT (John Terry).””It’s their dream to play against Wayne Rooney,

Frank Lampard and all these players. Maybe some of them will not play in that

stadium again.” When asked if Capello’s move to rest several would-be England

starters – for reasons regarding their respective commitments in the Champions

League – was disrespectful to Ghana’s football team and supporters, Appiah

agreed.”I think so, yes (it is disrespectful). Some

Ghanaians are really sad they are not going to play. Maybe Mr Capello has his

own reasons, we have to respect those,” Appiah said.