2022 World Cup: Otto Addo Explains Why He substituted Captain Dede Ayew in Ghana’s 3-2 lost to Portugal

Ghana head coach Otto Addo has disclosed why he substituted Andre Dede Ayew immediately after the skipper scored the equaliser in their 3-2 defeat to Portugal on Thursday.

According to the 47-year-old, the change was tactical, however the Black Stars failed to capitalise on the goal and lost narrowly to Fernando Santos’ side.

After the goalless first half, Cristiano Ronaldo opened the scoring for Portugal via the penalty spot but Ghana equalised through Andre Ayew from close range.

Portugal responded with two goals in two minutes to seal the points, Joao Felix converting a delightfully clipped finish and substitute Rafael Leao coolly stroking in just seconds after coming on.

Osman Bukari headed in a late consolation for Ghana and there could have been real drama in the ninth minute of stoppage time.

“It was a tactical change; he had a yellow card and I had fears that he cant go in for tackles the way I wanted,” coach Addo said after the game.

“So, I took him off to bring a fresh player. I don’t think it had a big impact because at that moment it was actually 1-1.

“The game was hectic, we made some few mistakes which resulted in the second and third goal.”

“We were a little bit unlucky, like I said with a little bit of luck we could have reached one point.

“The referee too was not on our side. In my view our yellow cards were deserved but for me holding jerseys, stopping counter attacks were also a yellow card but I don’t know what was wrong. But clearly you could see that the referee was not in our favour.”

The defeat means Black Stars are bottom of Group H after Uruguay and South Korea played out a goalless draw earlier on Thursday.

The Black Stars will now switch their attention to their attention to the match against South Korea on Monday before taking on Uruguay on December 2 at the Education City stadium.

Credit: Footballghana.com