Hon Alhaji Mustapha Ussif, Minister of Youth and Sports, has assured the general public that a new Black Stars coach will be appointed as soon as possible to handle Ghana’s 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers in March 2023.
The minister disclosed that, the Ghana Football Association (GFA) had begun the process to recruit a new coach for the senior national soccer team, the Black Stars.
“The country should be rest assured that the Ghana Football Association (GFA) is working to ensure that we get a replacement for Coach Otto Addo.”
Hon Ussif
According to him, he had engaged the FA which was in charge of recruitment of a coach on the matter.
Asked whether the coach being considered was local or foreign, honourable Ussif stated that what the country needed was a very competent coach who will deliver according to the expectations of Ghanaians.
Alhaji Ussif was responding to a public interest question by Ranking Member, David Opoku-Ansah, on what the ministry was doing to get a replacement for Coach Otto Addo, who resigned from the Black Stars after the team’s first round exit at the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. He said other countries which lost their coaches at the World Cup had also taken steps to replace them, including Portugal and France.
The Sports Minister stated that as of last week, the indication was that the FA would submit the final report to the ministry either this week or next week since there was an upcoming assignment in March.
“There is a need for a replacement for Coach Otto Addo so that the new coach could start preparing a team for the upcoming AFCON qualifiers.”
Hon Ussif
Background
Otto Addo announced his resignation as the Head Coach of the senior national team of Ghana,the Black Stars, following the elimination of the team from the 2022 World Cup.
Ghana needed a draw or win against Group H opponents, Uruguay to make it to the round of 16 stage of the competition, but suffered a 2-0 defeat to the South American side.
Coach Addo, speaking in a post match interview noted that it was time for him to focus on his role at his club side. According to the Coach, his resignation was not as a result of Ghana’s elimination in the World Cup, but stated that he would have done same even if Ghana had won the tournament.
“Yes, I said it before when I started as assistant coach in October last year. It was clear I would stop after the World Cup. At the moment, me and my family see our future in Germany, and I like my role at Dortmund and we are very happy there.”
Coach Addo
Coach Addo had been one of Ghana’s best coaches in recent times, having transformed a team which performed poorly in the 2021 African Cup of Nations and had no hopes of making it to the World Cup in Qatar.
The 47-year-old was appointed as one of Ghana’s two deputies for then-coach, Milovan Rajevac, before taking the assignment as Interim Coach for the senior national team.
Coach Addo helped Ghana to book its fourth World Cup qualification against Nigeria in a two-legged encounter, which got Ghanaians backing him to take up the role as head coach. His performance gave assurance that he could do the job well as he was given the nod to lead the side to the World Cup.
The Dortmund trainer became the first Ghanaian coach to win a World Cup match with the Black Stars after beating South Korea 3-2.
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