{"id":246616,"date":"2026-04-06T10:19:59","date_gmt":"2026-04-06T10:19:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportsworldghana.com\/?p=246616"},"modified":"2026-04-06T10:19:59","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T10:19:59","slug":"hes-not-100-yet-anthony-baffoe-raises-concerns-over-thomas-parteys-fitness-ahead-of-world-cup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/learn.oshtree.org\/b-class\/2026\/04\/06\/hes-not-100-yet-anthony-baffoe-raises-concerns-over-thomas-parteys-fitness-ahead-of-world-cup\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cHe\u2019s not 100% yet\u201d \u2013 Anthony Baffoe raises concerns over Thomas Partey\u2019s fitness ahead of World Cup"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Former Ghana international Anthony Baffoe has admitted that Thomas Partey is yet to reach full fitness, but remains hopeful the experienced midfielder will peak in time for the <strong>2026 FIFA World Cup<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Partey featured in Ghana\u2019s recent international friendlies against <strong>Austria<\/strong> and <strong>Germany<\/strong>, where the Black Stars suffered back-to-back defeats. While his presence added experience to the squad, concerns over his match sharpness have grown following a lack of consistent playing time at Villarreal CF.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The 32-year-old joined the Spanish side after leaving Arsenal FC last summer, but has struggled to secure regular minutes\u2014raising questions about his readiness ahead of the global showpiece.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Baffoe, however, believes the situation is understandable and not beyond recovery, especially with several weeks still remaining before the tournament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>\u201cThomas Partey is not 100% in shape, which is also fully understandable. They need to be in top form,\u201d<\/em> he stated, emphasizing the need for all key players to hit peak condition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">With Ghana entering a crucial phase of preparation, the technical team will be closely monitoring Partey\u2019s progress. The Black Stars are scheduled to regroup in May for friendly matches against <strong>Mexico<\/strong> and <strong>Wales<\/strong>, fixtures that could prove decisive in helping the midfielder regain rhythm and confidence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ghana have been drawn in a challenging Group L alongside <strong>Panama<\/strong>, <strong>England<\/strong>, and <strong>Croatia<\/strong>, making experience and midfield control vital components of their campaign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For Partey, who has long been a central figure in Ghana\u2019s setup, regaining full fitness could be the difference between another early exit and a deep run in the tournament. The Black Stars will be aiming to improve on their group-stage eliminations in 2014 and 2022, and much could depend on whether their midfield general can rediscover his best form when it matters most.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Former Ghana international Anthony Baffoe has admitted that Thomas Partey is yet to reach full fitness, but remains hopeful the&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":246617,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_kadence_starter_templates_imported_post":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[17,12,18,28,103,104],"class_list":["post-246616","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-stories","tag-austria","tag-black-stars","tag-germany","tag-otto-addo","tag-thomas-partey","tag-tony-bafoe"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/learn.oshtree.org\/b-class\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246616","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/learn.oshtree.org\/b-class\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/learn.oshtree.org\/b-class\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/learn.oshtree.org\/b-class\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/learn.oshtree.org\/b-class\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=246616"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/learn.oshtree.org\/b-class\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246616\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/learn.oshtree.org\/b-class\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/246617"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/learn.oshtree.org\/b-class\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=246616"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/learn.oshtree.org\/b-class\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=246616"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/learn.oshtree.org\/b-class\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=246616"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}