FIFA U-20 World Cup winner, Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu says Otto Addo will need support to make a real difference as Black Stars coach.
Addo, who had a successful first spell by qualifying for the country to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar has come under massive pressure following the team’s uninspiring performance in the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers.
Ghana’s recent 2-0 defeat to Sudan extended their winless streak to four, putting them on the brink of missing the AFCON tournament for the first time in 20 years.
Despite the criticisms and the calls for his dismissal, Agyemang-Badu, speaking in an interview with Flashscore.com continues to place his faith in the former international, confident he will soon turn things around with the right support.
“Our players perform exceptionally well with their clubs, but when they come here, things become difficult,” the former Asante Kotoko and Hellas Verone midfielder said.
“Building a national team is different from building a club team. From time to time, he [Otto Addo] will need our support because we’re all in this together. We can’t expect the technical crew to handle everything on their own.
“If we give him more time to settle in and understand the environment fully, I believe he can make a real difference for us. He’s admitted it hasn’t been easy, and the challenges have been significant.
“When you’ve changed five coaches in six years, it’s unlikely that coaching is the only issue. We need to uncover the root cause of what’s going wrong and understand why things aren’t working as expected.
“If you sack him and bring in another coach, and after two or three games things aren’t going well, what will we do – sack him again? Ghanaians need to stand behind him; we need to support the Black Stars and the GFA.
“He still has my full support, and we need to give him a chance to show what he can do for us,” he added.
Ghana will return to international football in November, aiming to qualify for the 2025 tournament in Morocco against all odds.
They will travel to Luanda to face Angola on November 15, followed by a home match against Niger Republic three days later.
The Black Stars currently sit in third place in Group F, with only two points from their four matches, trailing both Palancas Negras and Sudan.
