Black Stars head coach, Otto Addo, has addressed the red card incident involving Jerome Opoku during the international friendly against Nigeria on Friday.
Despite Jordan Ayew’s late penalty goal, the Black Stars suffered a 2-1 loss in Morocco, with Opoku being sent off for dissent in the second half, forcing Ghana to play with 10 men for the remainder of the match.
Speaking to Ghana Football Communications, Addo suggested that a language barrier might have contributed to the incident, acknowledging that Opoku needs to learn from this experience.
“I think there is a little bit of problem of language, especially with English players,” he said. “Because for them it is normal to use certain words and they don’t mean it that way but if you get to another country and play international matches and the referees are not so good in English and just hear a special word then they think like O, he is saying something to him so it was unlucky but also Jerome has to learn out of this and I know it, like I said it’s a habit, you know those guys from London this is the way they speak but he has to change,” he added.
Ghana will next play against Uganda’s Crane on Tuesday, March 26, at the Stade de Marrakesh.
