Otto Addo states difference between AFCON and World Cup qualifiers after historic achievement
· GhanaSoccernetGhana coach Otto Addo has disclosed that his team secured their place at the 2026 FIFA World Cup because they were less affected by 'distractions' which hindered their Africa Cup of Nations qualification.
Ghana failed to qualify for AFCON for the first time in two decades after finishing bottom of their group during the qualifiers.
However, Addo and his players recovered from the shocking setback to blow apart their World Cup qualifying opponents and secure a place at the tournament in North America.
Addo also added that the players have become more matured and adapted to his system.
"To be honest, I mean, to say very, very simple, we scored more goals. Because I don't want to go through all the matches, but we had always a lot of chances. Not in all the games, but in most of the games, we were more matured. We were more clinical in our finishes. And still, even those games now, we could have scored even more. I think it's also the players and sometimes things take time, they’ve adapted," he said during the post-match presser.
"And there were, I think, less distractions also about discussions, about, I don't know, whatever was kept in, or numbers, where me, I don't care about these things, you know? But I know it's a big thing here. So, there are a lot of things, but I think we now fight together as a unit, there is unity in the team, this is also very, very important," he added.
"And I think this helps us to structure, to build a team. If you have unity, everything else is easy. And like I said, from the first game, which helped us also, where we won 5-0, it gave us self-consciousness and belief. And from there, we went on to continue to win further."
The former Dortmund played made history by becoming the first coach to lead the Black Stars to back-to-back World Cups.
He also remains the only man from Ghana to play and coach the Black Stars at the World Cup.