Ghana suffered a 5-1 defeat to Austria in Vienna on Friday, in the first of two pre-World Cup friendly matches. The Black Stars performed well in the first half but conceded four goals in the second to Ralf Rangnick’s side, after which coach Otto Addo spoke to the press.

The boss gave his opinion on the performance, the next match against Germany and more.

Read a full transcript below:

 On the result  

It was a very difficult game for us. We had some really, good situations where we could have scored. We knew that they are pressing high and once we win the ball and we try to get to a striker and who starts with great situations that we had. And yeah, out of three or four situations, we should have scored one. I think we were more intelligent in certain situations. I know this was difficult decisions. I think one or two could have been a penalty. But this is football and then at the end, we collect the goal where we must drop earlier to attack the ball better. Unluckily, it got to the hands of Jonas Adjetey and they got a penalty and scored.  But also, before that, I think there was a foul. There was no ball play. He played the ball and we got an attack. But yeah, this is football. And still, then we must do better. The second half was a really, big disaster. Yeah, surely second goal was a good. And then I know it's going to be tough here in Austria. We are behind 2-0. They brought in freshmen. I think also transition wise it was difficult after the third goal and that is where we must learn to do better.

On Second half performance

The second half was really, not good enough at all. I mean, everybody is playing for the World Cup. We need to play more intense, I think. And I'm not saying that we must foul the opponent, but we have to protect ourselves better. And they had a lot of fouls. And I think we saw some few. We got one yellow card. And I expect much, much more against the ball, especially to go with the men, with the one-on-one teams. We know what they were doing. And then we must do much, much better. So, the second half was not good.

On lessons

At the end, surely, I think it was a little bit too high. We could have had two halves. But there are big, big lessons to learn, especially for the young players. And now it doesn't help to talk too much about it. We have to look forward to the upcoming match. And yeah, we'll be even a tougher opponent. But we must put everything in that match to bring back the belief in our team and to show that we can compete at the highest level. And so yes, it was a difficult evening for us.

On disappointing night

I can't say that we would have been so good. Of course, that's a disappointment. But I have to say that it was a good first half and a bad second half. We had a lot of situations where we could have scored one or two goals. For example, Prince had quite good options. There were situations where we should have scored a goal. So there were tight situations. There was also a situation against Austria but was ignored. I also think that the penalty was relatively unfortunate. There was also a foul against our team. That means it was unfortunate. But I have to say that the second half was just not good at all. It was really like this that Austria was on fire after the 2-0. They had some fresh players. And after the third goal, the situation was not so good.  It was a very intense game. We knew that the best would come from the Austrian team. There were also a lot of fouls. Of course, that also has to be improved when you look at the second half. We have to be able to expect more from Austria in the second half. But everything was not good enough in this sense. That means there are a lot of conclusions and things that young players can now take into account for the future. And it is as it is. We have to look ahead. We have another match that is coming. And that is a tougher opponent. That means we have to focus on the next match and draw conclusions accordingly.

On taking responsibility for the result

I take full responsibility when we win. I take responsibility. But we are all together. It's not all about me. When we win, it's not only about me. It's also about the team. Everybody in the technical staff, the players. We all have to take responsibility. Surely, we have to do much better. It's a matter of the team. If we win, we take responsibility. If we lose, we take responsibility. But it's about the team. It's a matter of taking responsibility from the team, from our teammates and from the players. The first two goals, surely avoidable.

On defensive problems

Defensively, we have problems. We have to be stable especially psychological. The third goal, we still have to keep our head up, keep the intensity. I can understand that the players were disappointed. But these are the situations where we still need to step up. We have to overcome this. Let's talk about the defence. The first two goals were easy. In goal 3, 4 and 5, there was a lot of defensive issues. We have to work on that psychologically. The next step is to stay strong and stay focused. The players have to focus. Stay focused so that this doesn't happen again.

On playing Caleb Yirenkyi at right back instead of his midfield role at club side

We have problems at that very position. We have a lot of midfielders. Our problem is at that side. We have to see for the future but at the moment, we don't have many options on the right side unlike in midfield where we have a lot of options. There are others who are not called. That's why he predominantly played there. Surely, it's easy now to say he didn't do well there especially when we won the World Cup qualifiers, he was so good. He is 20 years old. He has a lot of things to learn. Under this pressure, he has time to grow. I know he will have a great future. He is a great player. Today was not his day.

On visiting Edmund Baidoo at Red Bull Salzburg but not inviting him

He is a player who is clearly on my mind, and he is an option for the future.

On next match against Germany

This is my job. I try to give the boys a positive result all the time even in the midst of defeat. We have to analyse this game well even though we have little time. Tomorrow we will talk about some things. We have to improve them. We have to improve them quickly. I know that the team has the quality to keep up with Germany. There were a lot of things wrong today. We have to learn a lot. We have to learn from the head. We have to trust ourselves. We have to play our game. And it's clear that we need to talk about things, things that have gone wrong tonight. But I have to work with the guys to keep up, that they have a good mindset, that they will be focused on the next match. So, we're going to talk about that. And I know that we can do well against Germany, and we also have to get that into our heads. So, in this respect, I'm proud of the team.

On making six substitutions and switching to three back when we were down 3-0

So, with that very situation, to be honest, when you conceded the third goal. I think I just wanted to break the runs that Austria had after the third goal. We needed to try and stabilise the defence. Surely, it's a situation where it's not so easy to just continue like that. We have to give others a chance to show what they can do and to show how hard they really want to be in the World Cup. It would have been the same if we were leading and I would have made changes also. So, it's easier to make these kinds of changes and the number of changes when the result is high.  If it's tight, you doubt to change, because surely, first, you want to win the game. But this is a situation where I think we needed fresh players. Austria changed it up during the half-time and wanted to bring fresh energy inside. It didn't go the way we wanted, to be honest. Like I said, football is also a psychological thing. Sometimes, when you have chances, you don't score and then you concede. It's not easy to take this away, especially for young players. This is always the same.

On calls for his dismissal

This is the job of a coach. When we lose, people are mainly trying to bring you down. I don't really read too many things. Even if we win, I'm not too much into social media or reading anything. Whatever people say, its normal, especially on an evening like this when the team didn’t play well and we also lost.

On impact of new technical team members

Surely, the more people you have… I had one assistant before, now, we have three. It's easier, because it's easier to delegate. There's a lot of work to be done. Even now, after this evening, there's even more work to be done. It's easier to put it on more shoulders, so that we can divide ourselves. One for the set-pieces, one for the defence, one for the offence. I can have an overview about everything. It's always good to get different opinions, different perspectives. In the end, we go out and analyse and give feedback to the players as well.

On performance of Lawrence Ati-Zigi

He had some good saves. I can't say he played bad. He was a little unlucky. We want to use these games to give chances to other players and to have a competition in various positions.  Like I said, we have a lot of things to analyse. I think the five goals were not his fault, especially the first two. There is nothing he can do. At the end, it was an unlucky evening for him as a goalkeeper. He didn't deserve to concede five goals. But this is football. We have to learn and move on. This is the most important thing. It's not about the goalkeeper or this player or that player, we all as a team have to learn and find a better solution for the problems we had this evening.

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