Man on Mission: Otto Addo Reinvigorates Ghana’s Black Stars For World Cup

Rabat – Ghana’s Otto Addo has been on a mission to secure tough victories in the upcoming FIFA World Cup against higher-ranked Portugal, Uruguay, and South Korea.

Soon after his replacement of former head coach Milovan Rajevac, Addo secured the World Cup for the Black Stars after defeating Nigeria in the playoffs with a 1-1 tie in both legs. A result that was against all odds, given the team’s weak performance in the Africa Cup of Nations.

Preparing for the world’s most-anticipated football tournament, the 47-year-old Ghanian manager has to pick his preferred 26-man squad following friendly games against Brazil in September and Switzerland in November.

With some international players switching their allegiance to Ghana, Addo has to pick from a pool of talented football players with European professional experience. Ghana’s talent includes Brighton’s Tariq Lamptey, Atletico Bilbao’s Inaki Williams, Southampton’s Mohammed Salisu, and Hamburg’s Ghanian trio; Patrick Pfeiffer, Ransford Yeboah, and Stephen Ambrosius.

Besides Ghana’s plethora of young talent, international footballer Asamoah Gyan, who retired in 2019 after scoring 51 goals for the Black Stars, has expressed his desire to feature in his fourth FIFA world cup in Qatar. Gyan’s call received support from the former chairman of the Ghana Football Association, Nyaho-Tamkloe, who said that “Asamoah Gyan made an incredible mark in Ghanaian football.”

He stressed that Gyan “is a good footballer,” noting that “if he has the stamina” he should make it to the official squad.

While some commentators have questioned Addo’s readiness to lead Ghana to the cup, the coach’s wisdom and decades-long professional experience are expected to best serve the Black Stars.

Germany’s Stellar Player, Coach

Born in Hamburg to a Ghanaian father and a German mother, Addo had his feet in both German and African football. He debuted in the professional league at Hannover 96 before spending six seasons with Borussia Dortmund. He notably won the Bundesliga title with Dortmund in the 2001-2002 season.

As he steadily climbed the professional ladder, Addo made a name for himself in Africa by representing Ghana in the 2000 Africa Cup of Nations and the 2006 World Cup. In 2006, he helped his team reach the round of 16 where they eventually lost in a 3-0 match against Brazil.

After sustaining three serious knee injuries throughout his career, Addo was forced to retire in 2008. A decision that made him ask, “what’s next?”

Interested in coaching the next generation, Addo returned to Hamburg as a scout. He was later appointed as an assistant for the academy’s youth teams.

Talking to CNN about his coaching debut, the former player said “I jumped into scouting for about two or three months to see if I would like it, because I was sure that I wanted to do something with football — about this I was very, very sure — but I didn’t know which section to go.”

While he describes his scouting experience as “okay,” Addo said that he did not like “traveling alone and watching games alone.” But he was thrilled to be promoted to assistant, adding that the experience made him aspire to become a head coach for his club and national team. “I want to do this for the rest of my life,” he told CNN.

While he began his coaching apprenticeship in his hometown Hamburg, Addo served as an assistant to Kasper Hjulmand at Danish club FC Nordsjaelland before moving to his former club Borussia Dortmund as a talent coach. His mission is to ensure the smooth transition of young talent to top leagues.

More than a coach

Passionate about mentoring young players, Addo has been determined since his days at FC Nordsjaelland to coach players on and off the field. He does so by providing them with monthly or bi-monthly detailed feedback on their training progress and guiding them through personal challenges.

“We talk about everything,” Addo said. “I’m really sure that the better the relationships, the better I can coach them, and then they won’t take criticism from me as badly. They should take it as help.”

Playing the role of coach, mentor, and friend, the Ghanaian star says that he remains in touch with his students in Ghana and Germany.

With only 79 days left for the Qatar World Cup, Addo has to convince the country’s dual-nationality players to take a “difficult” and “lifetime” decision to commit to Ghana, a difficult yet pressing task necessary to build good synergy within the national team.