The Assistant Coach for the Black Stars, Desmond Offei, has said Head Coach Otto Addo is “very hungry” for the team to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

He spoke to ghanaorg.com, underlining he believed in Technical Advisor Winfred Schieffer and Head Coach Otto Addo’s leadership and zeal for success.

While he noted the team needed support from the citizenry, he admitted the greater responsibility lay on the team to put up its best performance and achieve success to thrill the fans.

“Yeah, it's about trying to improve on every level. Like I said before, on and off the pitch situations, where we need improvement is something that we've been discussing and talking about. So we've been working really hard behind the scenes and trying to rectify all the things that might not have worked out the way we wanted. So we've been working really hard and with a very experienced person and a coach. So, obviously with the head coach who is very hungry to try and achieve the absolute best, which is to qualify to the World Cup,” he said.

“I think not only in the team, I think, like I said off the pitch, which means the fans, we need their support, but it's up to us to win the hearts of many fans back again and to bring back the love. So it's about performance, it's about winning and this is football on the highest level. We all and the other teams also want to qualify to the World Cup. So, it is up to us to make sure that we deliver on the pitch on the day and take it to the next level.”

Desmond Offei bemoaned Ghana not qualifying for the 2025 African Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Morocco. He noted, however, some prized lessons had been learned by the team, which would prove valuable for its World Cup bid.

“Yeah, I mean, as we all know, it was very painful moment for us not to qualify for the AFCON this year in Morocco, but we've learned a lot. We've learned a lot from the mistakes on and off the pitch and we feel like we are very hungry to try and rectify the situation. And once again, it's through hard work and through working together and yeah, we are willing to work really hard to rectify those mistakes,” he said.

He spoke optimistically on Ghana hosting Chad in Accra on Friday, March 21, and facing Madagascar in Morocco on Monday, March 24, in World Cup qualifier games.

“First of all, I think we have to look at ourselves because we have enough quality in the squad to make sure that we perform on the day. Yes, of course we want to also make the Ghanaian fans very proud of us, so it's very important that we give a really good performance against Chad at home. They're going to fight and it's going to be like a final. So for us, I think it's very important to make sure that this window is wrapped up very, very positively, and make sure that the Ghanaian fans are very well and very happy with us,” he said.

“Like I said, we have to look at their strengths. Now both teams, Chad and Madagascar, have new coaches, so we don’t know how they're going to set up. But we know the players of course, so it's about us and how we get the boys ready to fight and make sure they give everything on a day.”