Ghana coach Otto Addo believes fan boos following Jordan Ayew’s late substitution in Friday’s 0-0 draw with Nigeria in the 2022 World Cup qualifying play-offs was directed at the coaching decision and not the Crystal Palace forward.
It was not a good sight at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium in Kumasi as the 30-year-old was jeered off the pitch as he was replaced by former Bayern Munich striker Kwasi Okyere-Wriedt in the second minute of injury time.
“The booing I think is for me [for my substitution decision], no problem. I think it’s normal,” Addo said at the post-match conference.
“I think Jordan played well and had a very good performance especially in the first half, lots of one against ones. Defensively he played outrageous, was very good, how he recovered… I am very satisfied.
“But in the end, I don’t know if they [fans] don’t see it but he was very tired. And the other thing, what they might not know is that we [technical team] have been working over the last month observing a lot of matches, me and my staff.
“The whole squad we watched three, four matches of each player before we invited them [players] and we know exactly what they are capable of.”
Ayew, who has scored only two goals for Ghana over the last two years, was one of three late substitutions made by Addo on the day.
New Sporting Club winger Abdul Fatawu Issahaku was first to go off, his place taken by Nantes attacker Osman Bukari, before Germany-born Daniel-Kofi Kyere replaced Roma youngster Felix Afena-Gyan.
“I think Jordan played well, Fatawu played well, had good chances, the people [fans] don’t know what Okyere-Wriedt is capable of doing, what Osman Bukari is capable of doing. And this is what I think the booing was for,” Addo added.
“But if they know football, then they would have seen what Osman can do, what Okyere can do. They had some good chances and if they were a little bit more lucky or determined, we could have created a chance or one or two more.”
Ghana and Nigeria face off again in the return leg at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium in Abuja on Tuesday, with the aggregate winner qualifying for the World Cup in Qatar later this year.