By: Joshua Nii Appiah, Doha
Out-going Ghana coach Otto Addo insists he has no regrets leaving out some players from his final 26-man squad for the 2022 world cup.
Crystal Palace’s Jeffrey Schlupp, striker Felix Afena-Gyan, midfielder Majeed Ashimeru and Genk midfielder Joseph Paintsil were notable names missing from Otto Addo’s final list for the tournament.
Officials of the Ghana Football Association, Black Stars Management Committee and Coach Otto Addo were criticised by some Ghanaian football fans and analysts for what they described as conspiracy and a deliberate move to deny some players the opportunity to be at the World Cup.
The Black Stars failed to progress from Group H following a shocking 2-nil loss to Uruguay on Friday in their last group match at the Al Janoub stadium.
Speaking at a Press conference on Saturday at the Black Stars team hotel in Doha, Otto Addo said he has no regrets for the decision.
“We had an opportunity to select twenty-six players. I believe in them and so I have no regrets at all for picking these players for the tournament”, he said.
The 47-year-old former Black Stars player however expressed appreciation to Mubarak Wakaso and other players who contributed to Ghana’s qualification to Qatar 2022 but were not in the final squad for some reasons.
“Also for the players who brought us here; some got injured , some couldn’t make it. I would like to first of all, thank Wakaso. I believe all of you watched the match against South Africa where he sacrificed his own health for the nation”. He continued ,” I was very sad when he received a lot of insults because the people forgot. Without those warriors we couldn’t be here”.
The former Black Stars player was appointed head coach on a temporary basis following Ghana’s abysmal performance at the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations in January this year.
He helped Ghana win their World Cup qualification play-off against Nigeria, and was given the job for the tournament in Qatar.
Addo won four games during his time with the Black stars, beating Madagascar and South Korea in competitive games with the other victories coming against Nicaragua and Switzerland.