Otto Addo Reacts to Criticism Ahead of South Korea Match

When asked by Daily cover from Radio France International how he dealt with the criticism from the Ghanaian media regarding his tactical choices in the match against Portugal, he said:

“…it"s always the same, when you do something and it works, you are a genius…"

“…and this is always the same with the media and with all due respect but some never played football, some didn"t do the job and it"s a coach job, you have to be really into it to know and understand some things and some don"t understand but it"s okay for me. Let"s say if I would tell a doctor what to do, maybe I know a little bit about medicine…but I can"t tell him what to do or what was wrong or right, I can just presume maybe and especially if I don"t have an interview, but I know it"s your job, it"s the job of the media and especially negative media sells better than anything else, so this part of the job, if you lose, you get a lot of criticism, and if you win, you are the best…"

GFA Petitiin FIFA to Sanction Portugal vs Ghana Referee

The Black Stars lost the opening fixture of their fourth ever World Cup campaign to Portugal in a 3-2 defeat that left so many Ghanians enraged and furious. Particularly the fuel for the anger of the Ghanians was the refereeing decision in the second half of the game to award a penalty to the Europeans after Cristiano Ronaldo went down in Ghana"s box with very little contact made by Mohammed Salisu.

This decision was probably uncensored in the fact that the referee didn"t consult the VAR(video assistant referee) before making a rather controversial reaction.

2010 World Cup Ghanaian legend, Asamoah Gyan, reacted to the referee"s decision to award a penalty to Portugal claiming the contact made by Salisu on Ronaldo was too soft:

“The penalty for me, I don"t agree because it was a soft touch although Ronaldo was a bit early…The referee should have at least checked the VAR before making the decision because I think it was too soft", he said via Supersport.

Addo also reacted to the controversial call by the referee claiming it was not a penalty and that Ronaldo"s goal was a gift from the referee.

Ghana Petitions FIFA to Sanction Referee Over ‘Poor Decisions’

The Ghanaian football association have finally petitioned FIFA to take action against Morrocan-born referee, Ismail Elfath for his poor and controversial decision making in the Group H tie on Thursday.

The 40 year old made some very objectionable decisions which played a key factor in the Africans" loss to the Europeans. First was the case of Ronaldo going down in the box, a scenario for which Elfath refused to confirm with the VAR as to whether it was worth a penalty or not. Secondly was the third goal which came via AC Milan winger, Rafael Leao, for which footages have shown that the 23-year old was just offside as at the time Bruno dinked the ball through to him in the 80th minute of play.

“NO VAR" was trending after the game, with Ghanaians full of rage as to Elfath"s conduct in the game.

The Black Stars take on South Korea next in Group H while Portugal clash with Uruguay in an heavyweight fixture on the same day.

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