Otto Addo is the newly appointed head coach of the national team, the Black Stars according to the Ghana Football Association (GFA).
Otto Addo was appointed as interim coach for the Black Stars World Cup playoffs against Nigeria in March 2022. He will be assisted by Aston Villa U-23 head, George Boateng and Nordsjaelland coach, Mas-Ud Didi Dramani. Meanwhile, Chris Hughton will play the Technical advisory role of the Black Stars.
His appointment was made following the decision made by the Executive Council of the Association on February 9, 2022. This comes after Milovan Rajevac was fired as the coach due to the abysmal performance of the players at AFCON2021.
Otto Addo’s Coaching Career
Otto Addo, aged 46, is a Ghanaian-German scout and manager as well as a former Black Stars player although he was born in Hamburg, Germany. He has a UEFA Pro licence and has great coaching experience. He started the coaching job as the Assistant Manager of the Hamburg U-19 team between January 2009 to June 2010.
Otto Addo was promoted as the Manager of the Hamburg U-19 from 2010 to 2015, leading the club to play 136 matches. He later became the assistant manager of Hamburg SV for only a few days and later came to Ghana now as a Chief scout within the period of 2013 to 2015. In June 2016, he became the Assistant Manager of Nordsjaelland from 2016 to 2017.
He was then appointed as the Trainer Scout for Borussia M’gladbach from 2017 to 2019. Otto Addo from 2019 to 2020 was appointed as Trainer Scout for Borussia Dortmund and thereafter became Manager of the same club from 2020 to 2021. He resumed as Trainer Scout at Borussia Dortmund until he was appointed Milovan’s Assistant Manager. On February 9, 2022, he has been officially appointed as the Black Stars manager.
Football Journey
Even though Otto Addo’s nationality was German he never played for their national team but he chose to play for Ghana. He began his football career in Hamburger SV in 1991. After playing for a year, he left Bramfelder SV, a German sports club to VFL 93 Hamburg, a German Association club in 1993.
Addo switched to Hannover 96, which is the third German league in the year 1996. He made a great move by assisting the team to score over 100 goals in the season but lost to FC Energie Cottbus in the playoffs in 1997. In the following year at Hannover, Addo scored seven goals in 30 games and was declared one of the elite players of the league.
In 1999, he was transferred to Borussia Dortmund, where he played over 75 matches and earned him, Bundesliga champion in 2002. Thereafter, the midfielder began to have knee injuries but he recovered. In September the same year, Otto Addo injured his right knee again in the 2002 AFCON qualifier game against Uganda.
In 2003, Addo’s career was almost cut off after he re-injured his right knee for the third time in a Dortmund at the UEFA Cup. All hope was not lost for Addo because in the 2005/2006 season he was transferred to the German side, FSV Mainz 05. During that season, he played very well to earn a nomination for the Ghanaian squad who appeared at the 2006 World Cup. In 2007, Addo signed a three-year contract with Hamburger SV but in 2008, he announced his retirement from playing football at age 38.
Family Background
Otto Addo was born to Ghanaian parents, late Ebenezer Awuku Addo and Naomi Amiokor Ntreh in Hamburg, Germany. Otto has a younger brother named Eric Addo. Eric is also a former Ghanaian footballer who played the position of a defender. He is currently an individual coach at PSV Eindhoven Youth, a football club in Germany.
Information about Otto’s spouse and children are not known in the media landscape but Addo has been spotted with a particular woman on a few occasions.
