VIDEO: I’m not under pressure to qualify Black Stars to World Cup, says Coach
Otto Addo says he is not under pressure to qualify the Black Stars to the World Cup as being suggested in some quarters
Ghana coach Otto Addo is hopeful the Black Stars will defeat the Super Eagles in the second leg of the World Cup playoff later today in Abuja.
Addressing the media on Monday ( 29 March) ahead of the clash, Addo says he is not under pressure to qualify the Black Stars to the World Cup.
” First of all I have a different definition of pressure, pressure for me is a privilege, to sit here in front of you as a coach from the Ghana National team, its a privilege, it is not pressure for me.
“30 million Ghanaians would like to be here, so it is a privilege, pressure is when I have to think what I will eat tomorrow, this is pressure and this is not pressure.”
“But sure we will be able to qualify, I just told them to go out there and have fun, have fun , I you make mistake i will , at least the Ghanaian press acknowledge that we tried to play football even though we didn’t win everybody saw that we played better than before, we will do everything to qualify,” he said.
As expected in a fully-packed stadium, the Black Stars made an aggressive start to the encounter but the Super Eagles were solid to resist the hosts’ attacking threats.
In the absence of suspended Andre Ayew, Roma youngster Felix Ohene-Gyan led Ghana’s attack while Lorient’s Innocent Bonke joined Joe Aribo in Nigeria’s midfield and Leon Balogun formed a partnership with William Troost-Ekong at the centre of the defence.
With the hosts dominant in the opening minutes, the game was briefly stopped on the half hour-mark for medical personnel to treat Osimhen following a challenge from Ghana’s Mohammed Kudus.
Two minutes later, the Black Stars had the clearest chance in the first half with Abdul Fatawu Issahaku’s shot from outside the penalty area but it was parried for a corner-kick by Uzoho.
The first 45 minutes ended with the Black Stars recording more shots and set-pieces but they lacked the cutting edge to go ahead.
10 minutes after the restart, Simon delivered the Super Eagles’ brightest chance after finding space on the left flank but his effort could not beat goalkeeper Jojo Wollacott.
In the 59th minute, Eguavoen made some tactical changes with Joe Aribo and Simon replaced by Brentford’s Frank Onyeka and Watford’s Emmanuel Dennis respectively.
Nigeria were forced to make another substitution after Bonke was stretchered off in the 61st minute which made way for Oghenekaro Etebo to come into action.
Ghana once again had a chance to break the deadlock in the 71st minute after Kudus burst through on goal from the right, but his shot was saved by Uzoho for a corner-kick.
It was a dramatic final 15 minutes as the referee awarded Nigeria a penalty for a handball in the 18-yard box but it was overturned after a VAR review for Ghana’s free-kick.
