Ghana’s Otto Addo disappointed despite positive signs in defeat to Nigeria

Ghana’s head coach, Otto Addo, expressed disappointment following the Black Stars’ narrow 2-1 loss to arch-rivals Nigeria in a friendly clash held in Marrakech on Friday night.

Despite a spirited performance, Ghana fell short against the Super Eagles, with goals from Cyriel Dessers and Ademola Lookman securing the victory for Nigeria. Ghana’s captain, Jordan Ayew, managed to pull one back for his team.

Reflecting on the match, Addo voiced his belief that his team deserved more from the encounter. “I don’t like to look too much about the positives because we lost. But I think we were a bit unlucky in the way we conceded the first goal as the ball hit the hand but like I said we were unlucky,” Addo stated, as quoted by the official website of the Ghana Football Association.

Addo pointed out the positives from Ghana’s performance, particularly in the second half where they showed resilience despite being down to 10 men. “First half they had the better chances but in the second half we really really did well. If you want to come to the positive signs, the things we did in the second half with 10 men were good,” he remarked.

While acknowledging Nigeria’s quality, Addo believed his team had opportunities to secure a more favorable result. “We controlled them; we were a bit unlucky with the finishing. I think what killed us was their second goal because we were close to actually equalising, but in all, a draw would have been deserved,” he added.

Despite the setback, Addo emphasized the need for improvement and resilience moving forward. “Like I said, we lost and we have to improve and move on,” he concluded, signaling a determination to learn from the experience and strengthen the team for future challenges.