Head coach, Otto Addo, is looking forward to a positive reaction from his players in today’s Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Niger. This comes after a tough 1-0 loss to Angola at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium in Kumasi, which ended Ghana’s 24-year unbeaten home run. Addo is confident that his players have put the defeat behind them and are eager to get back on track. He has also addressed the absence of Jerome Opoku and Joseph Painstil, and emphasized the importance of player mentality and being aware of the threat that Niger poses. With a strong squad and a determined mindset, Ghana is ready to give it their all and get back in contention for a place in the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco.
Here is everything he had to say:
On Team News
We had some few issues and little injuries, but I think they are mostly OK. Except Jerome, I think he had serious back problems. I think his body could not adapt to the training ground in Kumasi. It was very difficult for him. He had problems in training and now it was so serious that he could not train. He had to go back now to get special treatment from his club. It’s a pity. He didn’t play but got injured.
He will be out for this game. Also, Joseph Painstil, there is some issue with his work permit for the US. For that, he has to go to the US Embassy. The procedure takes some days. We needed his passport when he wanted to come to Morocco. We couldn’t take him there. We were hoping he would finish everything fast at the US Embassy. But, like I said, I think it takes more than three, four, five days. He had to do it because otherwise he couldn’t return to his club in the US. So, both of them will not be available.
On absence of Jerome Opoku and Joseph Paisntil and its impact on the team
Yes, Joseph came on as a sub, Jerome didn’t play, but the dynamics in that game is totally different from what you hope to see tomorrow. Yes, at the end of the day, anything can happen. I think Joseph had a good game when he came on, created a lot of chances, had also some chances. At the end, with Jerome, he would have been an option. He’s tall, he has a very good foot, good technique, and you never know. If anything happens or what happens, he will be there. It depends on the dynamics of the game, but for me as a coach, I would always like to have any options. I would like to have a left-footed centre defender, right-footed, and every position should be doubled up. This is, I think, the perfect scenario, but at the moment it’s not like that. This is how it is sometimes and we take it like that. We are happy to have other substitutions on the bench tomorrow, and whoever will play, the bench will be good.
On player mentality after Angola loss
Everybody was down, so I think the first part was surely mentally. I was down myself after the match, but the next day I had a lot of positive feedback from friends and family, also from some press people, and also the press conference after the game showed me that we didn’t play bad. It was a really, unlucky game, and this positive sign gave me confidence, and this is the confidence I was trying to give to the team in the last days, and I think it worked quite well. The guys looked good at the training, and surely there were some things defensive-wise but also offensive-wise which we had to work on. We tried to implement it in our training as far as we could. Surely not all of them could do everything because of the recovery after the game, but at the end of the day, now I think we are ready for tomorrow.
On the kind of response he expects from the players
This game, we are surely the favourites and I am very, very confident that we will win this game. But in football anything can happen. We saw it last time against Angola, the way the game looked. I never thought we would lose this game, but in football now there is no weak opponent. So we have to be focused, we have to be concentrated, we have to do our job. Then the probability that we win is very, very high.
On the quality of Niger
Absolutely, absolutely, we observed them, we watched a lot of games that they played and they look strong. They have good players on their team and they play together as a team. Like I said, they had some losses, but it was always very, very close and they also had their chances, so we have to be aware of that. They have good strikers, they defend very well, tactically they are well-educated, so it’s not going to be easy, but I’m sure that if we do our best, if we can create as many chances as we did in the last game against Angola, we will force the luck to come back to us.
On weight of expectations from Ghanaians
Yeah, I think they’re fully focused. They have experienced this in their life often, more often. It also happens at club level. When I was a player, we played with Dortmund against a fourth-division team and we lost in the cup game, so anything can happen. This is football, but I think that’s also the reason why they’re there where they are. You have to be fast in your head, you have to be confident, even though sometimes you make mistakes or things go wrong. But that’s why they’re professionals, they recover fast from these things. I think everybody’s waiting now for Monday or for tomorrow to come to show a good reaction and to show that we are still there, even though we lost against Angola.
On conceding late in the last two games
I think we have, let’s say, a bigger squad from 34 players which have a performance level which will always keep us at a certain level. We have to deal with injuries and everything. This shouldn’t be a problem. Surely it’s not easy, but it’s the same for the other teams, so I don’t want to actually go on that. I know it’s always difficult to win. I think the last game showed that there is no easy match. I think we learned, especially from the first two, that anything can happen and everything is possible if you believe and if you keep going. Also, the bench is so important. Players from the bench can decide a game. Surely, I think we talked a lot about Angola. We hopefully learned our lesson. Again, to take out the positive things, that we played really well. We created a lot of chances and it’s now time. We worked also on that, on finishes and how to be a little bit more clinical. It’s time to show it on the pitch now.
On turning the negatives into positives for the team
There was a lot of talking, surely, in the last days, and a lot of negativity, which is normal when you lose. It’s a big, big chance for us tomorrow to win this game and prove negative meanings about players or whatever, or the coach, or whatever. At the end of the day, I’m very, very sure that we will play well. We showed it the last time as well. Now we need the results. This is very important, this is crucial to qualify for the AFCON that we have to win. We’ll put everything in to do that. I’m very, very confident that we will win, but it’s not going to be easy, this is for sure. Like I said, the boys are ready and they’re hungry for tomorrow and they want to show everyone that they’re still there. Tomorrow’s a big chance for us to show it.
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