"They played very well"- Otto Addo reflects on Ghana's defeat to Japan in Kirin Cup tournament

Black Stars coach Otto Addo insists Japan deserved their victory over Ghana, blaming minor mistakes for his side's 2-0 defeat in the Kirin Cup tournament. 

The West Africans travelled to Nagoya with high hopes, having secured a fifth World Cup qualification in style.

However, just 16 minutes into the game, former Liverpool winger Takumi Minamino opened the scoring for Japan before Doan Ritsu sealed victory on the hour mark.

"Japan is a very good team and played very well, so I think that's why they won," said the coach after the game. "We knew that Japan was good at switching between offense and defense, so we didn't want to lose the ball. If they lost the ball, Japan would rush forward and their ace striker would score. That's how we conceded the first goal."

Addo used the match to also test new faces including Prince Adu Kwabena and goalkeeper Joseph Anang, who was making his first start for the Black Stars.

"Overall, we lost to Japan in terms of the number of shots we took. Japan also started off very well in the second half. We brought in some young players and they did their best, but it didn't translate into a good result," added Otto Addo.

The Black Stars will travel to Seoul to face South Korea in their second game of the international break.

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