![\"Otto](\"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/1664353836_148_download-7-696x382.png\" "\\"Otto")
Former Ghana international John Paintsil is confident that Ghana head coach Otto Addo can make the side competitive at the World Cup in Qatar.<\/p>\n
The Black Stars have struggled for form this year, winning just two of their 12 games, with Addo taking charge following\u00a0a group-stage exit\u00a0from the Africa Cup of Nations in January.<\/p>\n
The 47-year-old, who is in his first senior managerial role, handed debuts to four players, including Athletic Bilbao forward Inaki Williams, during September\u2019s international break.<\/p>\n
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The West Africans are the lowest-ranked side at the World Cup \u2013 at 61st in the world \u2013 and will face Portugal, South Korea and Uruguay in Group H.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy expectation for Ghana is very, very high,\u201d Paintsil told BBC Sport Africa.<\/p>\n
\u201cOtto Addo and his staff know what they are looking for. The coaches must stand firm and believe in their abilities.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery coach should know his 1st XI at this time. The little time they will have with the boys, they will do their best to blend them and become one team.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ghana suffered\u00a0a 3-0 defeat by five-time World Cup winners Brazil\u00a0in France on 23 September before a 1-0 win over Nicaragua, who are 81 places beneath them in the world rankings, four days later.<\/p>\n
Brighton wing-back Tariq Lamptey, Southampton centre-back Mohammed Salisu and Hamburg winger Ransford-Yeboah Konigsdorffer also joined Williams in winning their first caps.<\/p>\n
READ ALSO <\/strong><\/p>\n Paintsil, who amassed 88 caps for Ghana between 2001 and 2013, says the performances in those two matches indicate Addo has work to do.<\/p>\n \u201cBrazil came with a game plan by building up from the back slowly and when they reach the final third, they go with speed. They are a team that are well-prepared,\u201d the 41-year-old said.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you look at the Ghana side, our build up was very fast, we didn\u2019t make the right passes and we didn\u2019t know when to counter-attack.<\/p>\n \u201cThe second game was against a country that Ghana don\u2019t know much, so the performance was raw. That does indicate some of the problems that the coaches will be working on.<\/p>\n \u201cThose friendly matches will have given the coaches ideas on how they can control the boys and how they can pick up a system they will go with [in Qatar].\u201d<\/p>\n Ghana will face Switzerland in a friendly in Abu Dhabi on 17 November, and the West Africans begin their World Cup campaign against Portugal seven days later.<\/p>\n Last month Ghana Football Association helped organise\u00a0two national days of prayer and fasting\u00a0to offer support for the Black Stars, but Paintsil \u2013 who was part of the squad which reached the World Cup quarter-finals in 2010 \u2013 has confidence heading into Qatar.<\/p>\n \u201cThe quality individual players we have, a coach who is going to blend them and what the players [did] during the qualification against Nigeria give us hope.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n