Former Black Stars Coach Reveals Netherlands Striker Cody Gakpo Rejected Ghana

• Former coach of the Black Stars Charles Kwabla Akonnor has disclosed that Cody Gakpo rejected the Black Stars
• The Ghanaian Football Association held talks with the PSV forward over a nationality switch when he played for the youth teams of Holland
• Cody Gakpo is attracting interest from English Premier League giants Manchester United ahead of the winter transfer window

Charles Kwabla Akonnor, the former coach of the Black Stars of Ghana has revealed that Dutch forward Cody Gakpo strongly rejected an attempt to represent the African country.

The Ghana Football Association tried to persuade the Netherlands forward to play for Ghana due to his heritage with the West African nation.

However, the PSV forward insisted on playing for the Oranges despite not receiving an invite at the time of Ghana's interest.

“Yes we tried to let him play for Ghana but he ended up rejecting us for Netherlands. This was about a year ago when he was at the junior level," Akonnor said on Super Sport TV as quoted by GHANASoccernet.com.

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The red-hot forward netted the opener in the Netherlands' victory over African champions Senegal in their opening Group A clash.

Gakpo has been on the radar of English giants Manchester United following his explosive display in the Dutch Eredivisie.

The 23-year-old has scored nine goals and provided 12 assists in 14 games.

Late goals sink Senegal in World Cup opener

Earlier, Sports Brief reported that late goals by Cody Gakpo and Davy Klaassen gave the Netherlands a 2-0 victory over African champions Senegal on Monday on their return to the World Cup stage.

With Senegal missing injured star man Sadio Mane and the Dutch without their main attacking threat Memphis Depay at kick-off, the Group A encounter in Doha looked set to end in a goalless draw.

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But with just six minutes remaining PSV Eindhoven forward Gakpo got up in front of Senegal goalkeeper Edouard Mendy to head in a floated Frenkie de Jong cross from the left.

Fans descend on Mendy after Senegal defeat

A section of fans have blamed Chelsea goalkeeper Edouard Mendy for Senegal's World Cup defeat against the Netherlands.

The reigning African champions kicked off their World Cup campaign on a disappointing note after they were silenced 2-0 in their Group A opener staged at the Al Thumama Stadium on Monday evening. Edouard Mendy reacts after Senegal's defeat during the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Group A match against the Netherlands at Al Thumama Stadium.

Senegal were pretty much in control of the clash and looked on course to secure a precious point against the European giants.