Posted by Head Coach of the Black Stars Otto Addo has revealed that it was a tactical decision to sub off skipper Andre Ayew in Thursday’s defeat to Portugal.
The Black Stars lost 3-2 to Portugal in their opening Group H of the 2022 World Cup. Ghana went down 1-0 in the 65th minute courtesy a dubious penalty converted by Cristiano Ronaldo.
In the 73rd minute, Ghana pulled parity through skipper Andre Ayew but minutes after scoring, Ayew was subbed off as Ghana went on to concede two quick goals, a decision most people believe contributed to Ghana’s defeat.
“It was a tactical change; he had a yellow card and I had fears that he cant go in for tackles the way I wanted. So, I took him off to bring a fresh player. I don’t think it had a big impact because at that moment it was actually 1-1,” Otto Addo said after the game as quoted by Ghanafa
“The game was hectic, we made some few mistakes which resulted in the second and third goal. We failed to close the lines, opened the lines for them to pass the balls, they used it. We were a little bit unlucky, like I said with a little bit of luck we could have reached one point.”
“The referee too was not on our side. In my view our yellow cards were deserved but for me holding jerseys, stopping counter attacks were also a yellow card but I don’t know what was wrong. But clearly you could see that the referee was not in our favour.”
When quizzed about what accounted for the defeat, Otto Addo said: “The referee. I think we did well. We allowed less chances, there were two or three half chances from Portugal but we really did well. And up to the penalty anything was possible. Then the game got a little bit wild.
“We needed a little bit of luck. If Inaki at the end did not slide away, he could have scored the third goal, it was very tricky for him, hiding behind the goalkeeper. And like I said, he was a little bit unlucky.
“Portugal is not a school football team; they are one of the World best ranked and I think for that we really did well. From all participations and their last rankings, I think we really did well,” Otto Addo added.
Otto Addo and his team will hope to bounce back to winning ways on Monday, November 28 when they take on South Korea at the Education City Stadium.