After seeing us beat Switzerland 2-0 to wrap up what has been a topsy-turvy pre-World Cup friendlies following a 3-0 loss to Brazil and a slim win over Nicaragua. Otto Addo faced the media at the Zayed Sports Complex in Abu Dhabi where the Black Stars have been camping since Monday. Goals from Mohammed Salisu and Antoine Semenyo saw us overcome our opponents on Thursday. Otto Addo spoke about new players, having a wholesome squad, integrating new players and goalkeeper Lawrence Ati-Zigi.
Here is everything he had to say in his post-match press conference:
On performance
Yes, especially the way we played, and we had also some new players coming in and they connected well with the old players and I think we allowed some chances but they were less and we created a lot and so I am very, very happy for this game despite the result because now if we win or lose, we don’t get any points at the World Cup so we have to focus on Portugal but this is a good start. I think it’s a about concentration, it’s about the delivery and the players had good possession, we had some chances and we scored one goal and moved on to score the second goal.
On Scoring from set pieces
It’s really, really good for the players to see that we can score like this and but also in terms of creating chances I think we were good, it’s not only about set pieces all the time. But also, the way we played, we went deep, we had the right timing for deep runs, good positions in between the lines, good chip balls behind the lines and if we would be a little bit lucky today, we could have scored even more.
On output of new players
I am really, really satisfied with their performance but like everyone else as well especially for the new comers because we can’t take it for granted that they just come inside and connect with the players so well but everybody stuck to the plan, really, really intelligent how we played against this opponent with the ball, really like the positions and the runs and the balls that we played behind and that is why we created a lot of chances.
On playing without some key players
It’s good for the team to see that we have a lot of players. As a Coach I will have to decide in the end, we have a lot of possibilities, and this gives us confidence. I want the team to stick together and come together despite somebody is playing or not. Hopefully we have a lot of games at the World Cup and then I hope that everybody will get the chance to play but for me it’s important to see that everybody can play at this level.
On the threat of South Korea
It’s actually, now we did some preparation before, but we have to focus on Portugal, with all due respect to Korea and I am looking forward to see my old friend Son. I was his coach at Hamburg when he was U-19 so I am happy to see him again and it’s a different approach but we have to focus on the next match. The next match is Portugal, with all due respect to Korea but we have to look at Portugal and concentrate on them and then we take one step at a time.
On having a wholesome squad
Just as everyone else does, we have a good 26-man squad, everybody showed what he can today and I am happy for that. I am happy that we have quite an equal squad and it will not be easy for me as a Coach to choose who will play against Portugal but this is how I wanted. It’s better than having eleven players and then afterwards what comes is not so good. I think everybody saw that we have a well-balanced team, a lot of possibilities. This kind of tournament its very, very important to have 26 reliable players and I think a lot of the players showed today that we can count on them.
On Lawrence Ati-Zigi
We knew before that the keepers we have at this level are inches apart. Its not like somebody is that far away from the other so they are all at the same level. Sometimes it’s just little details. We knew that Zigi is good and he did today. He plays regularly in Switzerland and gets very, very good remarks after each game. We monitor him so there was no concern at all.
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