The Black Stars dispatched Chad with cheeky ease in front of a packed Accra Sports Stadium on Friday night.
The win earns the Black the position at the apex of the table. The team raced to a first-half lead through, Antoine Semenyo, Inaki Williams, and Jordan Ayew. Mohammed Salisu and Ernest Nuamah cemented the victory with two goals from the second half. 5-0 in the end.
READ MORE : WCQ26 Highlights : Ghana 5-0 Chad
These are my observations from the BlackStars vs Chad game.
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When Otto named his 23-man squad for the qualifiers against Chad and Madagascar. One name that piqued the interest of people was the inclusion of Hearts of Oak shot-stopper, Benjaimen Asare. He earned the call-up on the back of 12 clean sheets in 19 games for the Phobians. What even made the joy wholesome was he getting the starting role ahead of his compatriots, Lawrence Ati Zigi and Joojo Woollacott. This gave a lot of Ghanaians the respite that a home-based player can be trusted for a World Cup qualifying game.
Squad Depth
Otto’s starting lineup saw a massive improvement over the former squad’s. The availability of Thomas Partey in midfield gave the team that calm in midfield as he partnered with the young zealous Ernest Nuamah who capped off a resounding display in midfield with a goal. The attacking quartet of Kudus, Semenyo Inaki, and Jordan gave the Chadians a lot to tinker about as they slotted in perfectly in varied positions an interchanged several times in the game.
READ MORE: WCQ26 Highlights: Ghana 5-0 Chad
Tactical Variations
Otto proved on the day that should he have his squad armory at his disposal he would whip the side into doing things they haven’t done. Tactical the team was on hand to try varied tactics on the day. On what appeared as a 4-2-3-1 on paper there were large aspects of the game where the team made do with Schindler and Mensah as inverted fullbacks. It paid off with Schindler’s perfectly weighted cross finding the head off Athletic Club long serving Inaki Williams, who found the back of the net for Ghana’s second on the night.
READ MORE : 2026 FIFA WCQ: Black Stars annihilate Chad 5-0 in Accra
Substitutions
Since Ghana chose to play on Friday it meant that they would have less time for rest, and recovery before the jet off to Morocco which is a five-hour flight to play Madagascar in a tightly knitted contest. It was important for Otto to subbed off his first team players to bring on fresh limps as well as maintain the rhythm of the game. The introduction of Kamaldeen, Abu, Opoku, Afriyie, and Lawrence Agyekum came on at a time when all five goals had been scored but it was important to protect and preserve the lead while getting some game time under their belt.
READ MORE: WCQ26: Otto Addo defends Benjamin asare’s starting role
A Confident Black Stars
The weight of expectations to appease Ghanaians weighted heavily on the current crop of players. These bunch needed to wind up the support of the teeming Ghanaians who had lost of every love for the team following their disastrous outing in the AFCON2023, their inability to qualify for AFCON 2025 in Morocco. The only opportunity they had was to make sure they gave off their best and it showed in how they dominated proceedings from starting to finish to admiration of supporters.
