Ghana Coach Otto Addo Picks Former Chelsea Star As Favourite Black Stars Teammate

• Black Stars coach Otto Addo has named Michael Essien as the best teammate during his time with the national team
• Addo will lead the Black Stars to the 2022 FIFA World Cup, as the first man to play and coach Ghana at the global showpiece
• The German-born Ghanaian played alongside Essien for the Black Stars at the World Cup in Germany in 2006

Black Stars coach Otto Addo has disclosed that Michael Essien is the best teammate he played with at the national team.

Addo played for Ghana between 1999 to 2006, and was teammates with the former Chelsea star at the World Cup in Germany in 2006.

The former Dortmund player also mentioned legendary forward Asamoah Gyan as one of his favourite in the Black Stars.

“[Michael] Essien or Asamoah Gyan. One of the two. Essien was maybe more international. Outside Ghana, he had a big name," he told Tv3 as quoted by GHANASoccernet.

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"[Essien] had big impact in European football and Gyan had a big impact in the national team, especially with a lot of goals. I think what he did for Ghana is legendary," he added.

Addo made 15 appearances for the Black Stars, scoring two goals.

Meanwhile, Essien and Gyan had long careers with the national team, with the former now Ghana's all-time leading scorer with 51 goals from 109 appearances.

While Addo played at the 2006 World Cup, Essien and Gyan played at two and three editions of the tournament respectively.

47-year-old Addo will lead Ghana to the World Cup in Qatar, making him the first person to both play and coach the Black Stars at the global football tournament.

Ghana will face Portugal, South Korea and Uruguay in the group stages.

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Ghana coach Otto Addo confident ahead of 2022 FIFA World Cup

Earlier, Sports Brief reported that head coach of Ghana's national team, Otto Addo is highly optimistic of the Black Stars' chances heading into the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

The West African football powerhouse are the lowest ranked nation out of the 32 teams that have qualified for the Mundial.

However, the former Dortmund player is unperturbed by the threats of 'group of death' opponents Portugal, Uruguay and South Korea.