Abu, who features for French side Toulouse, was attempting to clear his lines early in the second half when he collided with Tanaka Ao, leaving him with a broken ankle. He was stretchered off and replaced by Alidu Seidu as medics rushed to attend to him.

In his post-match remarks, Moriyasu spoke warmly about the injured player, saying, “I hope that Francis will be able to play football again as soon as possible.

“In the end, it was a foul, but it was not something we did intentionally to injure him. In fact, I think we deserve to be called for the foul. Aoi is not at fault,” he added.

Ghana went on to lose the contest 2–0 to the hosts.

The Ghana Football Association (GFA) later confirmed that Abu is stable after receiving emergency treatment at a local hospital.

The Black Stars now shift their focus to Tuesday’s final friendly of the November window when they face South Korea in Seoul at 10:00 a.m.

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Abu, who plays for Toulouse, was stretchered off during Ghana’s clash with Japan at Toyota Stadium on Friday after suffering what appeared to be a broken ankle in the second half. Alidu Seidu came on to replace him.

In a statement, the GFA confirmed that Abu is now in stable condition after being rushed to Toyota Memorial Hospital for emergency care.

“The Ghana Football Association wishes to inform the public that Francis Abu is in a stable condition following his injury in the Kirin Challenge Cup against Japan on Friday. Abu was fouled by Tanaka Ao early in the second half and received emergency treatment at the stadium before being transported to Toyota Memorial Hospital,” the statement read.

The GFA added that the Black Stars’ medical team, in coordination with Toulouse FC’s team doctor and hospital staff, has developed a comprehensive management plan for Abu’s care.

“The Association thanks Ghanaians for their support and solidarity during this difficult time. Updates regarding Abu’s surgery and recovery plan will be provided in the coming hours. We wish him a speedy recovery,” the statement concluded.

On the pitch, Ghana fell 2-0 to Japan and will now prepare for their next friendly against South Korea on Tuesday, November 18, in Seoul, with kick-off set for 10:00 a.m. local time.

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The 24-year-old sustained a broken ankle while attempting to block a shot around ten minutes into the second half. He was immediately stretchered off, leaving teammates visibly shaken.

Francis, who had started the match, was substituted in the 56th minute for Alidu Seidu. He had recently earned a spot in the Black Stars squad for the Japan and South Korea friendlies after missing the September and October World Cup qualifiers.

The severity of the injury indicates he could be sidelined for an extended period.

Japan won the match 2-0, thanks to goals from Takumi Minamino and Ritsu Doan. Ghana now shift focus to their friendly against South Korea on Tuesday, November 18, as preparations continue for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Centre-back Mohammed Salisu of AS Monaco and goalkeeper Benjamin Asare joined the squad on Wednesday, just two days before Ghana’s Kirin Cup opener against Japan at Toyota Stadium on Friday, November 14.

Speaking to the Ghana FA, Addo explained that Salisu had yet to train with the team due to a minor injury sustained in his last Ligue 1 match.

“We will see today. Surely, we have to fight with the time difference; then, we have some issues here and there,” Addo said. “Salisu suffered an injury after his last match in France, so he was getting some treatment, which is why he came late. We’ll see today if he can train. We have some other issues here and there, but I think he’s very healthy. Due to the time difference and the long travel, we have to see how he feels to determine if he can play.”

After facing Japan, the Black Stars will conclude their Asian tour with a friendly against South Korea in Seoul on Tuesday, November 18.

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Sixteen players arrived on Tuesday to join home-based talents Kelvin Nkrumah and Prince Owusu, who travelled from Accra on Sunday.

The current squad in camp includes Joseph Anang, Lawrence Ati-Zigi, Derrick Kohn, Jerome Opoku, Ebenezer Annan, Jonas Adjetey, Kojo Oppong Peprah, Caleb Yirenkyi, Alidu Seidu, and Gideon Mensah. Other members are Abu Francis, Kwasi Sibo, Prince Owusu, Kamal Deen Sulemana, Antoine Semenyo, Brandon Thomas-Asante, Kelvin Nkrumah, and Prince Adu Kwabena.

Hearts of Oak goalkeeper Benjamin Asare, who featured in his club’s Super Clash against Asante Kotoko on Sunday, is expected to join the camp on Wednesday, along with Christopher Bonsu Baah, Prince Osei Owusu, and Mohammed Salisu.

The Black Stars are set to hold their first training session in Nagoya on Wednesday, November 12, ahead of their Kirin Cup clash against Japan.

Squad below:

Having already secured qualification for the tournament, both countries will use this opportunity to polish their strategies.

Japan booked their spot in the World Cup in March with a 2-0 win over Bahrain, while beating Comoros 1-0 in Accra on Sunday to confirm their place at the competition.

Coach Otto Addo’s team will look to assess players and make necessary adjustments ahead of our fifth appearance in Canada, Mexico and the United States of America.

The match will provide a valuable chance for the Black Stars to test themselves against teams they might face at the World Cup.

The highly anticipated match is scheduled to take place at Toyota Stadium in Aichi, Japan, on Friday, November 14, 2025.

Ghana, who were part of the four countries that participated in the maiden edition of the tournament finished third.

Tunisia defeated host Japan to annex the trophy while the Black Stars defeated Chile on a penalty shootout with nine players.

According to Andre, despite now having a full squad available for the tournament, it was a solid position to build from.

He added that participating in the Kirin Cup has given the team a good platform to prepare for the World Cup.

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“We have a very good squad which is growing as you can see the depth of the squad,” the Al Sadd forward said as reported by Citi Sports.

“We went to Japan with a whole different setup due to a lot of injuries and the Covid issues.

“Generally I think we ended really well and we have hope that when the full squad is in especially those that have proven a point we can have a good gel up,” he stated.

The Black Stars’ next assignment will be a doubleheader in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations [AFCON] qualifiers against Angola in September.

Ghana has been rewarded $50,000 as prize money for finishing in third place at the 2022 edition of the four-nation Kirin Cup Soccer invitational in Japan.

Having suffered a defeat in their opening game against the host country, the Black Stars defeated South Americans Chile 3-1 on penalties after a draw in regulation time in a third place decider held at the Panasonic Stadium in Osaka Tuesday morning with nine players.

Goalkeeper Manaf Nurudeen emerged the hero with two spot-kick saves for Ghana who finished the 90 minutes with nine men following second half red cards to defender Alidu Sediu and midfielder Mubarak Wakaso.

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Ghana opened the tournament with a 4-1 defeat to hosts Japan on Friday, June 10.

Meanwhile, Tunisia thrashed Japan 3-0 in the final and pocketed $250,000 as prize money.

The competition served as preparations for the Black Stars ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup to be staged in Qatar.

Ghana’s head coach, Otto Addo made five changes to his team for their second match on Tuesday morning.

After 90 minutes of thriller, which saw the West African side finish the game with nine men, the Stars managed to secure a 3-1 win in the penalty shootout to clinch the third spot.

Both teams in the first half were unable to take advantage of their opportunities as neither side could find the back of the net.

Things were particularly difficult for Ghana in the second half of the game after Seidu Alidu and Mubarak Wakaso were sent off.

Addo’s men played the last 12 minutes of the game with nine men but forced the game into a penalty shootout.

Eupen goalkeeper, Abdul Manaf Nurudeen made two saves to help Ghana earn a hard-fought victory.

Ghana suffered a 4-1 defeat in Kobe as they fail to reach the final of the four-nation tournament.

Many fans, who were eager to see the team perform some miracles in the opening game, were stunned at the turn of events.

Otto Addo’s side went to the tournament with a depleted side, with just 18 players at his disposal.

The Black Stars had been phenomenal in recent campaigns including games against Nigeria and the two AFCON qualifiers.

This counts as the first defeat to Otto Addo as head coach of Ghana after five games.

The Black Stars will face Chile, who lost 2-0 to Tunisia earlier on Friday, in their next game of the competition.

Check out some funny comments after the game:

Ghana did not show up to the party with players showing no sign of being in a good physical condition.

The games form part of the Black Stars preparations for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar later this year.

Particularly in the defense, players just run around most of the time as the Japan attack ran the show.

The first goal of the game came in the 29^th minute when Yamane Miki found the back of the Ghana net with a good left-foot finish to give Japan the lead.

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Although Jordan Ayew will score a screamer in the 44^th minute, the Black Stars’ defense went to sleep right away, giving the hosts the chance to retake the lead through a strike from Nitoma Karou a minute later.

In the second half, goals from Kubo Takefusa and Daizen Maeda propelled Japan to cruise to a deserved 4-1 win against a poor Ghana side.

The result means Black Stars will not play in the final, which will be contested by Japan and Tunisia. Earlier in the day, Tunisia defeated Chile 2-0.

Ghana and Chile will compete for third place on the same day as the final, June 14.

Four players have been infected with the virus and are set to miss the opener against the host country on Friday.

Osman Bukari, Dennis Odoi, Elisha Owusu, and Kamaldeen Sulemana have all been ruled out.

The report explains that three of the aforementioned players- Bukari, Owusu, and Sulemana contracted the virus in Angola when Ghana faced Central Africa Republic [CAR] in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations [AFCON].

Odoi, who was not part of the squad that faced CAR in Angola, contracted the virus when he re-joined the team for the trip to Japan.

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The Black Stars will play host nation Japan on Friday, June 10 at the Misaki Park Stadium.

The game is slated for 9:00 GMT kick-off time.

The winner will progress to the finals while the loser will compete in the bronze medal scheduled on the same day as the final.

The four-nation tournament forms part of Ghana’s preparation for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar later this year.

The Black Stars arrived in Osaka via Ethiopian Airlines from Luanda on Tuesday.

Coach Otto Addo has been forced to deal with a couple of withdrawals, injuries and COVID-19 cases after completing their June batch of games in the qualifiers to the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) last Sunday.

Players like Jojo Wollacott, Jonathan Mensah, Gideon Mensah, Osman Bukari, Denis Odoi, Elisha Owusu and Kamaldeen Sulemana – who were involved in both games against Madagascar and the Central African Republic last week – are out of the Japan games.

Ghana Premier League duo Danlad Ibrahim (Asante Kotoko) and Augustine Okrah (Bechem United) could not honour late invites handed them after they were initially dropped last week.

However, Hearts of Oak forward Daniel Afriyie Barnieh has been able to connect with the squad after travelling from Accra alone.

Meanwhile, the Black Stars have held their first training session in Kobe, the city to host their first match.

• Kirin Cup Soccer 2022

The tournament is expected to give the Black Stars technical team the platform to test their strength ahead of the Qatar 2022 Fifa World Cup later in November.

Ghana joins hosts Japan who will be represented by the Samurai Blue, Chile and fellow Africans in Tunisia.

The Kirin Cup Soccer is a two-round tournament that will have four games played on two separate days on Friday, June 10 in Kobe and Tuesday the 14th in Osaka.

Hosts Japan will host Ghana at Noevir Stadium in Kobe on June 10.

The second game for the Black Stars comes off four days later at the Panasonic Stadium in Osaka against either Chile or Tunisia.

“We are delighted to have the opportunity to play in Japan. The two matches in the Kirin Cup are very important for us, so we will do our best to produce a positive result in front of our fans in Japan,” coach Otto Addo told JFA media.

• Ghana squad:

Goalkeepers (2):

• 12　Lawrence ATI ZIGI (FC St. Gallen/Switzerland)
• 1　 Abdul MANAF NURUDEEN (KAS Eupen/Belgium)

Defenders (5):

• 2　 Andrew KYERE-YIADOM (Reading FC/England)
• 17.   Abdul RAHMAN BABA (Reading FC/England)
• 18   Daniel AMARTEY (Leicester City/England)
• 5　 Dennis NKRUMAH-KORSAH (Hearts of Oak)
• 3　 Alidu SEIDU (Clermont Foot 63/France)

Midfielders (6):

• 10　Andre MORGAN RAMI AYEW (Al-Sadd SC/Qatar)
• 6 　Edmund ADDO (FC Sheriff/Moldova)
• 11　Mubarak WAKASO (Shenzhen FC/China PR)
• 7　 Abdul FATAWU ISSAHAKU (Sporting Lissabon/Portugal)
• 20   Kudus MOHAMMED (Ajax Amsterdam/Netherlands)
• 15　Christopher ANTWI ADJEI (SC Paderbon/Germany)

Forwards (5):

• 9　 Jordan PIERRE AYEW (Crystal Palace/England)
• 23　Kwasi OKYERE WREIDT (Holstein Kiel/Germany)
• 19　Benjamin TETTEH (Yeni Malatyaspor/Turkey)
• 14　Daniel AFRIYIE BARNIEH (Hearts of Oak)
• 13　Felix OHENE AFENA-GYAN (AS Roma/Italy)

Schedule:

Friday, June 10 – Noevir Stadium, Kobe

• Chile vs Tunisia – 6:15 am
• Japan vs Ghana – 9:55 am

Tuesday, June 14 – Panasonic Stadium, Osaka

• Chile or Tunisia vs Ghana – 6:15 am
• Japan vs Chile or Tunisia – 9:55 am