Black Stars coach, Otto Addo, has commended midfielder Abdul Salis Samed for his outstanding performance against Nigeria in their friendly clash on Friday.
Despite Ghana’s 2-1 defeat to their arch-rivals in Morocco, RC Lens midfielder Abdul Salis Samed stood out as one of the team’s brightest spots.
Playing most of the game with a man down after Jerome Opoku’s early second-half dismissal, Ghana showcased resilience, with Samed catching the eye of coach Otto Addo.
Addo expressed his admiration for Samed’s performance, highlighting his contribution to controlling the game.
“Absolutely, the way Abdul Salis was running and how he controlled the game was really, really impressive. But all the others did well too. To hold them with ten-men in their half and pin them was a massive thing. We had good possessions; we helped and supported each other in the right timing, especially Abdul Salis,” he said after the game.
“When they pressed us, he went into the right spots to get out of the pressure and from there also we created danger with Jordan, with Semenyo.
He praised Samed’s ability to navigate pressure and create opportunities for his teammates, acknowledging the collective effort of the team despite the defeat.
“The wing backs also in the second half were good, with Tariq (Lamptey) and Ebenezer (Annan) and it was really, really good. Ernest Nuamah you can’t take the ball from him, he was difficult to catch, at the end we could have created a little more if we were lucky and Antoine Semenyo scored the equalizer with the chance he had with the header, then maybe we get a point but in the end we lost.”
Ghana will continue their preparations for the World Cup qualifiers in June with their next fixture against Uganda on Tuesday.
