Ghana international Jonas Adjetey has disclosed that he genuinely believed his hopes of playing at the 2026 FIFA World Cup had disappeared following the departure of former Black Stars head coach Otto Addo.
Speaking in an interview with Michael Oti Adjei, the centre-back reflected on one of the most difficult moments of his career after conceding penalties in successive international friendlies against Austria and Germany. The costly errors, coupled with a change in the national team’s technical leadership, left him fearing he had played his last game for Ghana.
“Yeah, I did [fear that I would miss the World Cup after Otto Addo was sacked] in the sense that I caused a penalty in Austria and then one again in Germany. So I thought that was the end of the story at that point in time,” Adjetey admitted.
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The defender acknowledged that the criticism surrounding those performances weighed heavily on him, particularly at a time when a new coaching staff was set to assess the squad ahead of the World Cup.
Rather than allowing the disappointment to define him, Adjetey focused on improving his performances while keeping faith that another opportunity would come.
“It got to me, but not too much. I just tried to leave the rest to God and work my way out.”
His perseverance eventually paid off. Adjetey earned a place in Ghana’s World Cup squad and has since established himself as one of the Black Stars’ dependable defensive options, completing a remarkable turnaround after fearing his international ambitions had come to an abrupt end.
