Otto Addo

Nana Otto Addo (born 9 June 1975) is a German-born Ghanaian football manager and former player. He was recently the manager of the Ghana national football team, and works as a talent coach for Borussia Dortmund.

Early life

Addo was born on 9 June 1975 in Hamburg, West Germany to Ghanaian parents.

Club career

VfL 93 Hamburg

Addo started his career in 1991 in Hamburg playing for Hamburger SV. In 1993 he left Bramfelder SV after playing there for a year to join fellow Hamburg side VfL 93 Hamburg in 1993 where he played 80 league matches and scored 4 goals from 1993 to 1996.

Hannover 96

Addo moved to Hannover 96 in the ''Regionalliga Nord'' (third German league) in 1996. He made a big impression in a squad that featured stars-to-be Gerald Asamoah and Fabian Ernst. That team ripped through the season scoring more than 100 goals but succumbed to Energie Cottbus in the 1997 promotion playoffs.

In 1998, Hannover finally promoted to the 2. Bundesliga. In his first season, he scored seven goals in 30 games and was acknowledged as one of the elite players of the league.

Borussia Dortmund

Addo transferred to Borussia Dortmund in 1999 and played more than 75 times for the team, becoming Bundesliga champion in 2002. However, he was also hampered by great injury troubles, as he tore his cruciate ligaments three times in this time, the first coming after a German Cup match against SC Freiburg on 15 July 2001. The player had an MRI scan which showed he had torn knee ligaments and underwent surgery on his right knee on 22 July at the Vail, Colorado clinic of world-renowned knee specialist surgeon Dr. Richard Steadman. He healed completely after that, and came back to play the 2002 UEFA Cup Final for Dortmund against Feyenoord Rotterdam on 8 May 2002, which Dortmund lost 3–2 at the Feijenoord Stadion in Rotterdam. On 7 September 2002, Addo tore right knee ligaments for the second time, in a 2004 African Cup of Nations qualifier versus Uganda in Kampala.

On 24 September 2003, Addo's career was under threat after he re-injured his troublesome right knee for the third time in Dortmund's 2–1 UEFA Cup victory over Austria Wien. He started the match, but was replaced after just 38 minutes.

After sitting out the whole of 2004, Addo returned to action as a substitute in Dortmund's 1–1 league home draw with Borussia Mönchengladbach in the last weekend of January 2005.

Mainz 05

At the beginning of the 2005–06 season he transferred to 1. FSV Mainz 05, for whom he did not make an initial impact. However, he played well enough to earn a nomination for the Ghanaian squad who appeared at the 2006 World Cup.

Hamburger SV

On 9 August 2007, Addo signed a three-year contract with hometown Hamburger SV, initially alternating with the reserves and the first team. While at Hamburg, Addo revealed his Hamburger SV goals in an interview with HSVLIVE, also addressing other topics. In 2008, he announced his retirement from playing football at the age of 38.

International career

Although born in Germany, Addo played for the Ghana national team for seven years commencing 1999, his debut being a 5–0 rout of Eritrea on 28 February 1999, and he achieved international prominence when he led the nation in the 2000 African Cup of Nations. He started for Ghana as right midfielder in the 2006 FIFA World Cup game against the Czech Republic on 17 June 2006 at the RheinEnergieStadion in Cologne, which Ghana won 2–0. In 2006 he played in Ghana's 2–1 win over the United States at the Frankenstadion in Nuremberg.

Style of play

Addo was strong in one-on-one situations, physical, creative, and versatile enough to play on both wings, on the inside and also in the central position, although his main skill was his ability to dribble the ball.

Coaching career

Addo started his coaching career with his former club Hamburger SV in 2009, in the process serving as a youth team coach and an assistant manager till 2015. In December 2013, Addo was appointed as the head scout of the Ghana national football team and prior to the 2014 FIFA World Cup and 2015 Africa Cup of Nations, succeeding Ibrahim Tanko following the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations and 2013 Africa Cup of Nations.

Borussia Dortmund

In April 2019, it was announced that Addo would work for former club Borussia Dortmund as a 'talent coach', having previously held a similar role at Borussia Mönchengladbach since 2017. In December 2020, he was promoted to serve as first team assistant coach to Edin Terzić who had been promoted to interim head coach, following the sacking of head coach Lucien Favre.

He won his first trophy as a coach after Dortmund defeated RB Leipzig in the finals of the 2020–21 DFB-Pokal. Following the assignment of Terzić as technical director and appointment of Marco Rose as the new head coach, Addo resumed his work as a talent coach.

Ghana

On 25 September 2021, the Ghana Football Association announced that they had appointed Addo as one of two deputies for the new Ghana coach Milovan Rajevac. On 9 February 2022, the Ghana Football Association announced that they had appointed Addo as the interim coach for the Ghana national football team ahead of the team's 2022 FIFA World Cup final play-off matches against Nigeria. On 29 March 2022, he qualified Ghana (on away goals) to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, after drawing 1–1 against the Super Eagles of Nigeria. The Black Stars of Ghana had earlier drawn 0–0 against the Super Eagles on 25 March.

In May 2022, Addo was appointed as the head coach until the end of December 2022 alongside maintaining Chris Hughton as technical advisor and George Boateng and Mas-Ud Didi Dramani as assistant coaches, the same set-up for the 2022 FIFA World Cup final play-off matches against Nigeria. Addo won his first match as manager on 1 June after leading Ghana to a 3–0 victory over Madagascar in an 2023 AFCON qualifiers.

At the 2022 FIFA World Cup tournament, Ghana went on to lose their first match against Portugal by 3–2, however they won their second group game against South Korea by 3–2. Addo became the first Ghanaian to play for and coach the Ghana national team at the FIFA World Cup. That victory also made Addo the first Ghanaian coach to win a match at the FIFA World Cup. Five days later, Ghana lost to Uruguay and were eliminated from the tournament at the group stages. Prior to the start of the World Cup, Addo had hinted that he would be leaving after the world cup regardless of the outcome. Following their last group match, Addo resigned as the head coach of Ghana and would focus on his other role as a talent coach at Borussia Dortmund.

Managerial statistics

Honours

Borussia Dortmund
* Bundesliga: 2001–02
* UEFA Cup runner-up: 2001–02
* DFB-Ligapokal runner-up: 2003

References

External links

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Otto Addo
on Borussia Dortmund website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Addo, Otto
1975 births
Living people
German sportspeople of Ghanaian descent
Citizens of Ghana through descent
Ghanaian footballers
German footballers
Footballers from Hamburg
Association football midfielders
Ghana international footballers
2000 African Cup of Nations players
2006 FIFA World Cup players
Bundesliga players
2. Bundesliga players
VfL 93 Hamburg players
Hannover 96 players
Borussia Dortmund players
Borussia Dortmund II players
1. FSV Mainz 05 players
Hamburger SV players
Hamburger SV II players
Ghanaian football managers
Hamburger SV non-playing staff
Ghana national football team managers
FC Nordsjælland non-playing staff
Borussia Mönchengladbach non-playing staff
Borussia Dortmund non-playing staff
Ghanaian expatriate football managers
Ghanaian expatriate sportspeople in Denmark
Expatriate football managers in Denmark
2022 FIFA World Cup managers