World Cup 2022: Ghanaian Otto Addo, coach in accelerated learning
Ghana team coach Otto Addo.
REUTERS - GARETH BUMSTEAD
Text by: David Kalfa Follow
4 mins
Otto Addo, the coach of the Ghana team, has been the subject of criticism, following his tactical choices against Portugal (3-2 defeat) and his statements on the refereeing after this meeting.
For the Ghanaian technician, who had never been a head coach before last February, this 2022 World Cup is in a way an accelerated learning process.
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From our Special Envoy in Doha,
“
Maybe I can take this opportunity to apologize if I was a bit harsh.
But I was quite emotional after the game against Portugal.
Otto Addo
partly made amends on November 27 in Doha, on the eve of a crucial game for Ghana against South Korea, three days after complaining bitterly about
a penalty awarded to Cristiano Ronaldo
[1]
.
“
It's in the past.
It's finish.
We can't change that.
Everyone on the pitch is human and makes mistakes.
I make mistakes too
, ”he assumes in a press conference.
To (re) read ► 2022 World Cup: Ghana bends against Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal
Assuming it is the job of this ex-defender who wore the colors of Ghana during the 2000 African Cup of Nations and during the 2006 World Cup. his past experiences as a player and then as an assistant coach.
Indeed, before taking over as interim head of the Black Stars last February and qualifying them for this
2022 World Cup
, the German-born man had never been head coach of such a team.
“
Forget the World Cup and forget everything else: it's about constantly learning
, he defends himself, however.
And that's not just for me, but for everyone.
And if everyone thinks that way, we will grow together
.”
“When you do something and it works, you are a genius”
Nevertheless, the former resident of Borussia Dortmund - club for which he was then a recruiter - had the right to his share of criticism from part of the Ghanaian press, at the end of the defeat. 3-2 against the Portuguese.
In particular reproached him for having replaced captain André Ayew, when the latter had just equalized and Ghana was then in full success.
Especially since Portugal then immediately regained the lead.
“
When you do something and it works, you are a genius
, tackles the one who also played for Hanover, Hamburg and Mainz.
It's always the same with the media, with all due respect to them.
But some have never played football, others have never coached.
A coaching job, you really have to be in it to understand a lot of things.
Some of them don't understand
.
For the moment, the general public still seems to support the technician.
In any case, this is what Ghanaian journalists present in Qatar assure us.
And Otto Addo seems to be gaining the support of his group.
"
He's a coach who wants to play, who wants to show everyone that we are capable of playing, even against big nations
,"
young defender Alidu Seidu told rfi.fr
before the tournament.
He wants us to show more and more
”.
For the 47-year-old coach, talent knows no age.
“
For me, it's not about young and old.
It's about good players and not-so-good players
,” he said.
Otto Addo thus considers that his protégés have no complexes to feed vis-à-vis the Portuguese, South Koreans and Uruguayans, in Group H of the World Cup.
"
For us, it's very, very important as a team to learn how we can help each other in order to defend better but also to know how to create more chances
," he explains.
Maybe for the public, we lose.
But for us, we never lose, we learn.
And I'm happy to have a team that wants to learn
.
If possible by winning against South Korea on November 28.
To (re) read ► 2022 World Cup: match schedule and results
[1]
“
When someone scores in five World Cups, you can only congratulate them, but it was really a gift.
There was no penalty, it was a bad decision.
I don't know why the VAR didn't intervene.
It's amazing, maybe they were sleeping.
»
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