The last two months have been good for Ghana football team. The Black Stars made a major breakthrough with their squad selection, as no less than 5 players decided to switch alliances and play for this West African country. And one of the major reasons for that decision has been the national coach Otto Addo. Off course, an inability to receive a cap or even play in any meaningful game for England, France or Spain certainly was the biggest reason for some of them to rethink their decision to accept wearing their country of birth’s jersey, but in that thinking process, Otto Addo played a major role, and he admits it was a tough job. He used to refuse all offers so he could care for his mother in MozambiqueCurrent Black Stars coach took over the squad after their shameful elimination from last year’s AFCON and managed to secure a place in the World Cup in Qatar, eliminating big rival Nigeria in the process. And then, he took a long look at the dual nationality players and started convincing them. “Since March we’ve been talking with a lot of players who we think can impact the team. It’s a difficult decision, especially if you were born in another country, and you’re young and have a choice to play for two nations because once you’ve played more than three matches, you can’t change again. And this is not like the club stage where you can sign maybe for one to three years. And then after that, if things don’t work, you can go to another club. It’s a lifetime decision. Being born in Germany, maybe I can even understand more of that thinking” Addo told the BBC World Football podcast.CAF Awards: Stupendous Sadio Mane bags African Player of the Year gongThe result? Five new players will be in his squad preparing for the World Cup: Brighton wing-back Tariq Lamptey and Athletic Bilbao forward Inaki Williams recently joined, while Stephen Ambrosius, Ransford-Yeboah Konigsdorffer and Patric Pfeiffer did it a bit earlier. And the time is of the essence, since the squad needs reshaping and everybody has to adapt, and there will be only two international fixtures for Ghana before the World Cup starts. One of the Williams brothers flies the Black Stars flag, but the other one is undecidedSo, Black Stars coach wants his players to join as quickly as possible. There are comments that this number of new players will influence the mood in an already established harmony and some people are fearing that the new players only want to join Ghana so they can participate in a World Cup, but Addo shrugged off those comments. “We want those who decided to play for Ghana to get familiar with the team and the staff. So, everybody who wants to join has to join now and they know exactly what they’re going to do. This is why they really have to think about what to do. Especially if you’re not born in this environment, it’s not always easy. But they know what they stand to get. And first of all, it’s a lot of joy and love, It’s not only about the World Cup, but also about more World Cups to come. It’s about African Cup of Nations. It’s about winning, being successful. So, it’s not about just this one World Cup in Qatar” explained Addo. ##NAJAVA_MECA_6530451##
