AFCON 2025: Otto Addo's report explains Ghana's elimination
Ghana will not be at AFCON 2025. That is a fact. Otto Addo has set out the reasons behind the Black Stars' elimination...
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After matchday 6 of the AFCON 2025 qualifiers, Ghana finished 4th and bottom of Group F with 3 points. As a result, the Black Stars will not be at the continental showpiece in Morocco at the end of 2025. Despite these disastrous results, Otto Addo is expected to stay in the job. Ghanaian outlet 3Sports has revealed some key elements of the head coach's technical report. According to the 49-year-old, these were the factors that hastened the Ghana team's elimination.
Injuries to key players during qualifying
During the AFCON 2025 qualifiers, Otto Addo really did not have a full squad available. Because of injuries, some senior players were unable to feature in all six games. For example, Thomas Partey, the Arsenal defensive midfielder, played in only two matches during qualifying. He missed the October and November international breaks with fitness problems.
Read also: Ghana, post-mortem of a historic elimination from AFCON 2025
The first-choice centre-back pairing of Salisu and Djiku was used only twice across the double-header against Sudan in October. The two players were never fit at the same time to be called up. For matchdays 5 and 6, Otto Addo had to contend with several absentees. Eight players missed the games against Angola and Niger. They were Antoine Semenyo, Inaki Williams, Jonas Adjetey, Tariq Lamptey, Jerome Opoku, Alexander Djiku, Ibrahim Osman and Joseph Paintsil.
Read also: AFCON 2025 (Q): eight absentees from the Black Stars!
https://twitter.com/3SportsGh/status/1861875639583707211
While asking for extra backroom staff, Addo believes the Black Stars' performances did not match the results, especially at home.
Tensions in the squad after Kudus was named captain
The Ghana camp is reportedly not a healthy one. With André Ayew left out of the squad and Thomas Partey repeatedly injured, the captain and vice-captain respectively, Otto Addo had to reshuffle his hierarchy. Mohammed Kudus was made captain and took the number 10 shirt. Apparently, that choice did not go down well with everyone in the dressing room. There are said to have been tensions within the Black Stars after the head coach's decision.
Read also: AFCON 2025 (Q): Ghana eliminated, a first in 20 years
Late arrivals of some players ahead of match preparation
This is the lot of every national team coach in Africa. On top of limited preparation time before each match, they have to deal with players arriving in dribs and drabs. Otto Addo also faced this situation, which surely disrupted his tactical set-up.
Even though the GFA did not issue an official statement after its Wednesday meeting, everything points to Otto Addo continuing in the role, according to several Ghanaian media outlets.