In the ideal world of a Black Stars fan, Otto Addo gets Ghana to beat Central African Republic (C.A.R.) convincingly to qualify to the 2026 FIFA World Cup the way Sports Minister Kofi Adams expects and turn the qualifier against Comoros to be nothing more than an academic exercise filled with lots of entertainment and merry making. (Click highlighted text to read full story)
That’s the first of two fantasies as the second fantasy entails handing Otto Addo his sack letter plus the adequate level of compensation immediately after the Comoros game so Ghana commences the search for a new coach.
Clearly, winning is not enough and looking at how Ghana’s 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers have panned out so far, even qualifying to the big event in the United States of America, Mexico and Canada next year wouldn’t be enough to change the perception of a large section of Ghana’s public towards Black Stars head coach Otto Addo.
Steering Ghana’s National Men’s Football Team to a successful campaign thus far that has no losses ought to get more Ghanaians to believe that Otto Addo is the right guy to get Ghana to progress beyond the group stage of the 2026 World Cup.
In the sports world that is drenched in statistics, it is refreshing to note that somewhere in this football space that there is a serious reason to believe that the eye test theory is king; fail the eye test and not even some of the best performances can change opinions.
By the time Ghana closes out its 2026 World Cup qualification campaign against C.A.R. and Comoros, Otto Addo could be the first Ghanaian to lead the Black Stars to not one but two World Cup appearances but because performances under the German born-Ghanaian have been unconvincing, there is a clamour for him to be gone.
However, there are a few things Otto Addo could do in these games against C.A.R. and Comoros to endear himself a bit to the Ghanaian folks and one involves him doing something he has rarely done so far in his career.
Show Proper Management Skills in Personnel Selection
The latest iteration of the Black Stars had a couple of familiar names return to the team in Abdul Fatawu Issahaku and Alidu Seidu after both players recently recovered from lengthy ACL injuries. Despite both players returning to full action for Leicester City and Stade Rennes respectively, their minutes have been managed through limited time on the pitch and deliberate absences by their clubs and the Black Stars ought to do same.
Thanks to the terrible pitches in the country called Ghana, it would be suicidal to the careers of the aforementioned gentlemen to have them play on the cow-ploughed nature of the Accra Sports Stadium. The surface of the pitch is just way too bumpy to provide a level and stable platform for guys only a few months removed from ACL surgeries to play on.
As such, Otto Addo should show proper management skills by using both players to beat C.A.R. to seal Ghana’s place at the World Cup and send both players back to their clubs immediately because even training on Ghana’s terrible pitches could injure them just as it did to Jerome Opoku’s back. (Click highlighted text to read full story)
Better competition at the left full back position
Ghana’s left full back position has grown into an area of serious concern; In fact, both flank positions in the backline are not delivering as they should but the right full back is in a better spot than the left. Gideon Mensah, who has been a consistent fixture at left full back, has been average at best and for the most part below average.
This issue was highlighted by Ghana’s desperation to hastily have Derrick Arthur Kohn commit his international allegiance to Ghana ahead of Germany which has failed so far. AJ Auxerre defender Gideon Mensah seriously needs to improve his performances with the Black Stars and at this point that could be only achieved by giving him proper competition.
Ebenezer Annan of Saint Etienne in the French Ligue 2 is part of the Black Stars and unlike previous instances where he has just been a mere participant in the team, he needs to be given a true chance to be more than that.
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Using Annan well in training and potentially having him as the starting left full back is the only way to get Gideon Mensah’s head back in the game to provide better performances for the Black Stars and Otto Addo is the one who can get it done.
Dominate crucial game against C.A.R. the way Kwesi Appiah did against Egypt
In order to avoid unexpected drama and more tension on top of all the tensed moments Ghanaians have dealt with over the years watching “Otto-Ball”, Ghana needs to win its game against C.A.R. in Morocco. Must win games haven’t particularly worked out for Otto Addo in his time as Black Stars head coach because if it had worked out, Ghana would have qualified to the 2025 AFCON and won its game against Uruguay to qualify to the group stage of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Addo supervised Ghana’s qualification to Qatar albeit at the playoff stage but even that “win” over Nigeria that got Ghana to Qatar didn’t come in a straightforward manner as Ghana technically didn’t beat the Super Eagles but managed to sneak through courtesy of the away goal rule after drawing 1-1 on aggregate against Nigeria.
Playing against C.A.R., Otto Addo needs to ensure that the Black Stars win in convincing fashion the way the Black Stars did against Egypt by slamming the Pharaohs 6-1 to effectively seal its place in the 2014 World Cup under Kwesi Appiah.
After failing to lead Ghana to the 2025 AFCON, Otto Addo should execute all three issues mentioned above and more including improving his body language on the bench and his demeanor towards journalists to offer Ghanaians a sliver of hope that he is turning the corner as a coach to court a bit of support from the masses and mainly his pay masters-the Government of Ghana- to hold off getting sacked once the Black Stars qualify to the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
