By Ken Bediako
This is the third part of the focus on Asante Kotoko players, who in my estimation, deserve to be in the hall of fame as true legends of the club.
The series is my voluntary contribution to mark the 89th anniversary celebration of the “fabulous club of Africa” on August 31.
The focus today is on Malik Jabir, Sunday Ibrahim and Abdul Razak.
MALIK JABIR: the lanky goal getter with powerful shots in both legs, led Kotoko to several triumphs both at home and abroad. He will long be remembered for his brilliant goal that won the Africa Cup for Asante Kotoko for the first time in Congo Kinshasa on Jan 24 1971. Kotoko won the match in question 2-1 after a 1-1 draw in the first leg in Kumasi.
Malik was team manager when Kotoko won the Africa Cup again in 1983 beating Al Ahly 1-0 in Kumasi after a goalless draw in the first leg in Cairo.
Wa born Malik started playing football in Middle School at Wa and later featured prominently for the local Town X1. He played competitive football with Savanna Stars in the early sixties and joined Kotoko in 1964 when he was a student at the Kumasi Radio Technical Secondary School (Radisco) that produced a lot of exciting football stars.
He was called into the Black Stars in 1967 and played in the African Cup of Nations (Afcon) in Ethiopia 1968 and also the 1970 Afcon in Sudan. He was picked as one of Africa’s top Stars to represent the Continent in two special competitions in Mexico 1970 and Brazil 1972. He was also a member of the Black Stars team for the 1972 Munich Olympics. He was made captain of Kotoko in 1974.
IBRAHIM SUNDAY: the great midfielder, also played a major role in Kotoko’s brilliant exploits both at home and at the international level. He was voted Africa’s number one footballer in 1970. He famously captained Kotoko to win the Africa Cup for the first time in 1971 and returned 13 years later in 1983 to coach the club to win the Africa Cup for the second time.
Born at Koforidua, Sunday played for Koforidua Corner Stars and started big time football with Accra Standfast in 1960. Two years later, he moved to Kumasi to join Great Ashanti. After another two years, he moved to Kumasi Cornerstone. As if destined to change clubs after every two years, Sunday moved to Asante Kotoko in 1966. He quickly caught the eyes of the national team selectors and was called into the Black Stars Group. He featured prominently in the Black Stars defence of the Africa Cup in Ethiopia in 1968 and also the Afcon 1970 in Sudan.
He was at two back to back Olympic Games in Mexico1968 and Munich 1972. On retirement from active football, Ibrahim Sunday later trained as coach in Germany with sponsorship by top German team, Werder Bremen.
ABDUL RAZAK was popularly known as “Golden Boy” of Ghana football. This midfielder of repute was star performer both for Asante Kotoko and the nation, and was voted the best player in Africa in 1978.
He played a vital role in the Black Stars team that won the original Africa Cup of Nations Cup for keeps at Accra Stadium in 1978, beating Uganda 2-0 in the final.
Razak is now an international coach of good standing and he handled Kotoko during the 2003/2004 league season. Razak was one of the few Ghanaians who played professional football in the United States of America when he signed for Cosmos of New York in 1979. He later played for Zamalek of Egypt before training to become coach.
To be continued.
Cheers everybody and keep loving sports.
