Otto Addo picks Germany as favorite to win World Cup

Ghana head coach, Otto Addo, has picked Germany as his favourite to win the Qatar 2022 World Cup ahead of his team, the Black Stars.

The Die Mannschaft were shocked by Japan in their first game of the tournament, losing 2-1 after taking a first-half lead on Wednesday at Khalifa International Stadium.

The Germans will face stiff opposition when they play Spain on Sunday evening at Al Bayt Stadium in their second Group E game.

Hansi Flick’s side currently sits bottom of their group with no points while Spain, Japan, and Costa Rica all have three points.

Hamburg-born Otto Addo admits the odds are against Germany, but is rooting for his country of birth to win the Qatar World Cup.

“To win the World Cup? Phew! Normally I’ll like to go with Germany, but the odds are not really in their favour at the moment,” Addo said at a press conference.

Otto Addo’s Black Stars will also be seeking redemption when they take on South Korea in their second group game after also losing their opening game against Portugal.

Meanwhile the Ministry of Youth and Sports in collaboration with the Ghana Embassy in Qatar has successfully mobilised over 1,000 Ghanaians and some Africans based in Qatar to cheer the team at the tournament.

The move is a realisation of a plan the Minister for Youth Sports, Mustapha Ussif told Parliament ahead of the start of the tournament.

The innovative fan mobilisation strategy is due to the inability of the government to fund supporters from Ghana as a result of the economic challenge the country finds itself in.

To complement the few fans who the Ministry intended to facilitate their trip to Qatar through corporate support, the Minister assured that his Ministry was mobilising Ghanaians and Africans to offer the Black Stars strong support.

Ahead of Ghana’s opening group match on Tuesday, the Ministry and the Ghana mission mobilised over 1,000 Ghanaians and some Africans and provided them with match tickets and apparel in Ghanaian colours.

The mobilised fans and the few from Ghana provided an energetic and colourful backdrop as the Black Stars battled to a slender 3-2 loss against Portugal last Thursday.

Mr. Ussif, in the company of the Ghana Ambassador to Qatar, met the supporters and thanked them for availing themselves to cheer on the Black Stars.

The Ministry will continue the mobilisation effort in upcoming games against South Korea on Monday and Uruguay on December 2, 2022.