Neil Armstrong, Head of Public Relations and Strategy, at the Ghana Football Association, has praised Black Stars coach Otto Addo for his 23-man squad for the African Cup of Nations Qualifiers.
Coach Addo named his full squad on Thursday at a media briefing, which took place at the GFA Secretariat here in Accra.
Speaking to GHOne TV Sports after the media briefing, Neil Armstrong appealed to Ghanaians to throw their support behind Coach Otto Addo to enable him to execute his mission with the players available.
“Whenever it is that we’ve engaged with him, whether privately or publicly, he’s made it very clear that his decisions are based upon consensus with his additional coaching staff. So you’ve got John Painstil, you’ve got Fatawu, you’ve got the other assistant coaches and together, they come to collective decisions based upon what their plans are, based upon what they perceive as being the current form and status of the players that are at their disposal. Mind you, he keeps saying that there are so many players, and some of the decisions are very, very close. So it’s sometimes okay when you see some contentions as to why he took this guy over and above that other person”.
“But at the end of the day, I keep saying that he has a job to do. He came in for a short stint and took us to the World Cup. We didn’t perform. I think we’re decent. Showed the signs of a team that could rise with time. We dipped. We brought him back to lift us back to where we were at Qatar, and potentially take us to a much, much higher level. So my take would be the coach has made his decision together We will put our support behind him as we’ve always done”.
“And we also urge our colleagues, Ghanaian supporters, at the last congress, the president talked about winning the 12th man. And for us, it’s a mantra that we are going to be preaching throughout this year and into the future. Without the 12th man, our supporters, this game is not a game. And we believe that the players that the coach has selected will bring joy to Ghanaians, would play against a very tough Angola side, We’ll go to Morocco to play against Niger, who are also quite strong technically and physically. Hopefully, after these two, this doubleheader of qualifiers, we should see the makings and the shapings of the start of a very good qualifying campaign” he told GHOne TV.
Coach Otto Addo expects a full house on Monday as preparations intensify for the doubleheader against Angola and Niger.
The team will hold one training session in Accra and two sessions in Kumasi before the Group F opener.
The Black Stars will host Angola on September 5 before facing Niger four days later.
Source: Ghana/Starrfm.com.gh/103.5FM/Christian Kobby Quarshie
