Prosper Harrison Addo, the General Secretary of the Ghana Football Association (GFA), has come forward to defend the decision to appoint Otto Addo as the coach of the Black Stars for the 2022 World Cup.
Otto Addo, a former Ghana international who previously served as an assistant coach under Milovan Rajevac, was chosen to lead a four-member technical team tasked with qualifying Ghana for the World Cup by defeating Nigeria in the playoff qualifiers.
After successfully qualifying for the World Cup, Otto Addo was given the opportunity to continue coaching the team on the world stage for the fourth time. However, similar to the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), Ghana failed to progress past the group stage and suffered a defeat to familiar rivals Uruguay in their third match, leading to Otto Addo stepping down from his position as coach.
Despite this outcome, Harrison Addo defended the decision to appoint Otto Addo, emphasizing that it was his tactical brilliance that secured Ghana’s qualification for the World Cup by defeating Nigeria.
“He is the same coach who qualified us to the World Cup.”
“The role of coaching a national team is different from coaching a club team, and even Mourinho has explained this in an interview. As a club team coach, you have your players with you all the time, but it is not the same with the national team,” Harrison Addo explained.
“As a national team coach, you do your job during the international windows, and no one can convince me that Otto Addo didn’t do his job. I don’t understand the term ‘part-time coach’ attributed to Otto Addo,” he added in an interview with Asempa FM.
In March, Chris Hughton, who served as the team’s Technical Advisor during Otto Addo’s tenure, was appointed to take over as coach.
Hughton has already managed two matches in the 2023 AFCON qualifiers.
