Former Black Stars midfielder Emmanuel Agyemang Badu has cautioned Ghana’s football management against building the national team’s World Cup campaign exclusively around Antoine Semenyo, insisting that squad depth and collective strength matter more than any single star.
Badu made the remarks during a media interaction at Nsawam Prison on the sidelines of the Prisons Football Project by former Ghana Football Association chief Kwesi Nyantakyi.
“What happens if he gets injured? Then your team is messed up,” Badu said, while acknowledging Semenyo’s quality and describing him as an anchor for the team.
The warning comes at a moment of heightened expectation around the 26-year-old forward. Semenyo enjoyed an outstanding club season, registering more than 20 goals in all competitions including 17 Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) Premier League strikes across spells with Bournemouth and Manchester City. With Mohammed Kudus ruled out of the tournament, public attention has increasingly shifted towards Semenyo as Ghana’s potential talisman.
Despite that profile, Semenyo’s international return remains modest — just three goals in 34 appearances for the Black Stars since his debut in 2022 — a disparity that has fuelled debate about whether his club form will carry over onto football’s biggest stage.
Badu’s concern centres not on the starting eleven but on what sits behind it. “My problem is not about the starting players. I prefer a bench where, when you turn and look, you see powerful players there,” he said, drawing on his experience from the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.
He praised Semenyo’s physical and technical qualities, describing him as Ghana’s “poster boy” whose use of both feet, strength on the ball, and footballing intelligence make him a constant threat. But he urged Ghanaians to ease the pressure on the forward. “He should come home, enjoy his football and help us qualify from the group,” Badu said.
Ghana face England, Croatia, and Panama in Group L, targeting a return to the knockout stage for the first time since 2010.
