Head coach Otto Addo took his seat in the press conference room at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium on Sunday to handle his pre-match media duties before Ghana's game against the Central African Republic.

With the 2026 FIFA World Cup ticket up for grabs, he shared his mindset heading into the crucial clash with the Central Africans, as well as discussed the importance of playing in front of a bubbly and cheerful crowd and much more.

The transcript is below:

On lessons from the game against Mali and approach to the CAR game:

One thing is for sure, I think it’s going to be very difficult. For anyone who thinks that we can just play them like that, I don't think it will happen. If it happens, I'll take it. But it’s very difficult to beat them. We have analyzed them well. They are doing well, especially in their offensive transitions and are always dangerous. They played 1-1 against Mali, so we know what to expect. Despite the win, we can't relax now; we have to continue.

Big congratulations to the team for this fighting spirit. Coming from one-nil down to get a late goal and being mentally strong with the right team spirit to turn this result around was impressive. I think the boys ran a lot, they did a lot of good work, especially defensively. Even though we allowed too many chances, if you watch the game closely, you will see how even our offensive players were working against the ball in the heat of 42 degrees.

Sometimes we missed some offensive actions, but the way they played from the front to the midfield, how Kudus and Ernest Nuamah worked defensively, was massive. And this atmosphere in the stadium to survive is amazing. In the end, the players that came in gave us freshness, strength, and creating chances was really good to see. These are the kinds of games that make a team grow together. We still have to learn from the mistakes from that game. Everybody knows we have a young squad, so I think it was a very good experience to get into the next games.

On the response from Kumasi fans going into his second game:

I was really overwhelmed the last time we came here. To be honest, I didn't expect that because you can't take that for granted, especially after a bad AFCON, that people are still supporting you. This is what makes me love Kumasi no matter what. In football, and in every situation, when you are down, that is when you need support the most, and so I will never forget what Kumasi did for us. They cheered us up, and I think we had a decent game.

We had 60% ball possession, we dominated them (Nigeria), we were just missing a goal. It was really good to see, and I love coming to Kumasi to play here. Now, this is surely what I expect also: the support until the last whistle is made, and I am very happy to be here. Because I know this will give an extra kick to the players. Even in hard times or when things are tough, they will support, and it’s a good feeling. Mentally, it’s good for the players to come here and know they have the backing of the Kumasi fans.

On injuries:

We had a few injuries. Like I said, it was a tough match, but it seems everybody will train fully today, and I am sure that everybody will be ready for tomorrow's game.

On the impact of substitutes in the Mali game and having options:

For me, it’s very important. I know some might not understand sometimes why one player is called and another is not. There are so many different reasons. Sometimes a player is sick or injured, sometimes he can't come. Sometimes he doesn't feel strong enough to come, and some players we talked to are still deciding whether to play for Ghana or for another country, so there are different reasons. But for me, it’s very important to have different options. Sometimes you need a striker like Jordan (Ayew) who can hold the ball, or somebody who goes one-on-one like Kudus, or sometimes you have a more defensive structure for the game.

It depends on who we are playing, and so for me, it’s very decisive to see the options to score goals and also the best option on how to defend, and based on that plus the training, plus the games they played for their teams, decides who will play. But it has to fit with the opponent we have, and this is very important for me, and I was happy that the players who came in made an impact. Mumin (Abdul) was there straight away, Jordan (Ayew) scored the winning goal and had a good assist where Thomas almost scored, Fatawu (Issahaku) was pressing well and looking really sharp, winning the ball for us to have the winning goal. Elisha (Owusu) was there on point, stopped some important attacks against us, and I was really happy to have this bench.

In all, I am happy with the squad and the way the guys presented themselves, very disciplined. They had a lot of fun; surely when you win, you have a lot of fun, but also before, and the way the guys engaged with each other, I really like it, and I think there is a lot to come for the future. Like I said, Mali was a very good experience with a happy end. Even if we would have played 1-1, I would have been very happy about this squad.

On the Baba Yara Stadium pitch:

I really have to say Mali has a wonderful pitch. I know it’s difficult to judge our pitches. We wish the pitches would be better, even when we trained in Accra. These are things that we need to work on together. I hope that it will get better, but this is the way it is, and this is how we take it.

When I was playing, the pitches were worse, so things are getting better gradually, and I think we all have to push to make things better. But it’s not a topic for us, to be honest. We are just focusing on the game; it’s the same condition for our opponents, so for me, it doesn’t matter. I trained and played on worse pitches.

On the assessment of the team in friendlies against Nigeria and Uganda and the qualifier against Mali:

The good thing is that I don’t think I will ever be satisfied, to be honest. It is difficult to compare the two games where we had the freedom to experiment. We had a lot of new players there; we had a lot of new players and younger players than we have now, so it is very different. Surely I want to win, and the team wants to win every game, but it’s different if you have friendlies where you can prepare yourself for the official games.

I will always want to win, Ghanaians always want to win, but friendly games are totally different. I have to try some things, and I have to get some answers to the questions I have about the player, and for this, I have to try new players. I have to give them chances. I have to see which positions they are capable of playing and how they combine in various formations, so for me, we want to win every game, but you can’t compare friendly games to the official games.

On Ghanaians seeing the World Cup as an opportunity for a visa and the pressure associated with it:

Pressure is part of football, and to be honest, when I was playing, there was much more pressure because there you have to play. You have to be disciplined on the pitch, and this is way tougher than being a coach. I can just talk like you guys (journalists). If I want to make it easy, if it doesn’t work, then I will say the players didn’t do what I said. So it’s very easy for me. We all want to go. Some have been to the World Cup already, for some it will be the first time, for some it could be the last time, so it’s always a big thing for the national team to qualify.

What I can say from my point of view, I had the experience, and to be honest, the pressure in the two games against Nigeria was much higher because sometimes I think people forget where we are coming from. Before the World Cup, we came out of the African Cup in the first round. Now, it's not so easy to prepare a team, to have everybody switching to my style of play, and to be attentive, positive, and to believe after such a bad tournament. To believe in the coaches, to believe in their teammates, and themselves is very difficult, so again, big props to the players for adapting to my style so fast. We had one week of training, and I think they did really well, and that is why they got rewarded with this win.

On whether the team understands that people view the World Cup as an opportunity to travel to the USA for greener pastures

Sure. Every player wants to go to the World Cup, no matter what it is. Maybe Ghanaians should know that there are a lot of job opportunities in Qatar as well. But surely, we just want to go there. Everybody wants to go there, not only us, also Mali, also the other teams,also the Central African Republic. They all want to go there. They would die to go there, and our players as well. I can see in the last game and I can feel in training where players are fighting for their spots, and we have to stop the training and calm them down sometimes, so I can really feel how the players are eager to win and are giving their all to qualify for this World Cup.

On the Central African Republic stretching Ghana the last time we met and our approach:

I can't be too specific with the approach because I don't want our opponents to know what we are trying to do. I know their strength is in offensive transitions, and we have to stop that. Once we do, we'll have the opportunity to score a goal. I will bring the formation that is the freshest and most likely to outscore them. But they have proven against Mali that they can play to a draw or win against any team, so it will be tough. We've prepared ourselves, watched a lot of matches, and have done a lot of analysis. I am very sure that we have identified the right areas where we need to improve and also the right solutions for how we can outplay them. If things work out, we will win this game.

On playing a team considered as a minnow and its importance:

It's a very important game. As I said from the beginning, we have to take it seriously; it's going to be tough. In the past, I think we had problems when we were the favorites, and now we've used these three days to work on solutions for how we can outplay them. We've considered which positions we can take and how we can position ourselves to bring out our biggest strengths, especially in our offensive players. I am confident that it will work, but actions speak louder than words, so we'll have to see what happens tomorrow. However, I hope that we can create a lot of chances, and when we do, we will score.