By Ken Bediako
I had decided to write about the inability of our indigenous football coaches to unearth the talents needed to spice our game when I suddenly had a big distraction by former GFA chairman Dr Nyaho Tamakloe.
The talkative veteran football administrator had in an interview published last Monday in the mass circulation Daily Graphic was publicly advising former Black Stars coach Charles Akunnor to sue the Ministry of Sports to claim his two-year outstanding salary of nearly 300,000 dollars.
I thought this matter had been settled a long time ago. I don’t believe Dr Nyaho Tamakloe is crying more than the bereaved. Akunnor is naturally reticent. I have known him intimately since his playing days at Okwawu United where he was Nana Abrah Appiah’s protégé. He is someone who would not want to hurt a fly and it is most unfair that the GFA and the Ministry of Sports to give him such a raw deal to hurt his feelings. The impression should not be created that not much respect is given to our indigenous coaches. You will recall that Serbian coach Milovan was quickly paid all his gratuity or is it ex-gratia (apologies to Speaker Bagbin) when his contract was terminated. What is good for the Serbian must also be good for the Ghanaian coach.
I would like to assume it’s a genuine mix up between the GFA and the Sports Ministry that has resulted in holding up Akunnor’s back pay. I don’t back Dr Nyaho Tamakloe’s envisaged court action. I am sure my good friend, SWAG President Kwabena
Yeboah for instance can easily lead Akunnor to the Sports Ministry to settle the issue once and for all.
I don’t want our local coaches to regard this Akunnor issue as a sign of disrespect for them to use as reason why majority of them have lost the ability to produce talented players for the league.
It is held that a good coach must be able to identify talents, polish them and adopt formations and strategies to ultimately assemble a good team.
We have seen this before. Numerous examples. “Home Boy” C. K. Gyamfi did it with the Black Stars in the early 60s; Ben Kwofie teamed up with Aggrey Fynn to guide Kotoko and the Black Stars to Africa in the early 70s.
Adabie made Akotex special breed, A.K Edusei, Kwasi Afranie, Osam Duodu, multi- system man Sam Arday, Herbert Addo, Sunday Ibrahim, Duncan, Bashir Hayford, J.E Sarpong. Didi Dramani, Maxwell Konadu, Kwasi Appiah all made their marks on the local scene. So was Silas Tetteh.
Who can forget Jones Attuquayefio who won six back to back league trophies with Accra Hearts and later on gave the accolade “scientific soccer lads” to Liberty Professionals, and last but not the least Prof Ogun who returned a dull Asante Kotoko to winning form within a season.
If fans have lost the attraction to fill the stands, it’s mainly due to the absence of attractive talents that makes you forget your problems for 90 minutes or so after watching them in action.
Well, here comes the Football Philosophy spearheaded by the indefatigable Kurt Okraku. The programme contains a lot of grandiose plans that could bring back the love if sincerely implemented. Coaches are going to be sponsored to upgrade their standards among other incentives. Let’s exploit this opportunity.
I am a great optimist so I am prepared to give the young enthusiastic football man the benefit of the doubt to put his lofty plans into fruition.
As usual I would like to end my article with profiles of Asante Kotoko 1982 Africa Squad and the 1985 Africa Cup squad of close rivals, Accra Hearts of Oak
Asante Kotoko 1982 Squad
EMBER OWUSU SEKYERE
Baby face Ember Owusu Sekyere is easily one of the fastest wingers Kotoko has produced. He has a peculiar way of outwitting the hardest tackling defender and he can easily trap his opponent to commit blunders in the vital area.
He was a prominent member of the Academicals team in the early seventies and his colleagues say he is a very good training horse. “His antics at training put the defence on the alert”, said his colleague.
Born on 30th April 1955 in Kumasi, Owusu is a projects officer with the Agricultural Development Bank(ADB). He comes from a farming family and both parents, Kwasi Frimpong and Afua Saah, are farmers.
Owusu’s ambition is to play for the Black Stars but age is not on his side and it is doubtful whether he can make the grade.
Table Tennis is his hobby and Opoku Afriyie is his local idol. Brazilian star Zico is his favourite player abroad.
The happiest moment in his career was when Kotoko beat Great Olympics in 1976 for
the Kaiser Cup and Hearts 2-1 victory over Kotoko in 1978 is his saddest moment.
Akua Serwaah is Owusu’s dear wife and Harriet Owusu Sekyere is the product.
MOHAMMED AYOMA
Mohammed Ayoma is one Kotoko player most Kotoko fans regard as too gentle to be a goalkeeper. It is held that a goalie must be somewhat robust and being a Policeman it is difficult to understand why he is so soft.
The incredible four goals he conceded against Hearts in Kumasi within 30 minutes and the recent three goals from Accra Standfast, all in the first half, are the saddest moments in his 29 years football career.
Born at Koforidua on 29th June 1955, this well-built gentleman goalie is married to Alamisi Ayoma, a
trader. He has two children, Eunice and Sylvester.
Ayoma’s hobbies are Tennis and basketball.
He played for Swedru All Blacks and featured regularly for the Police team until he joined Asante Kotoko in 1976.
His favourite player in Ghana is Kofi Badu and his idol abroad is Germany’s national goalkeeper Schumacher.
Ayoma’s happiest moment was when Kotoko beat Sekondi Hasaacas 1-0 in the first round of the national league in Sekondi. He was in the posts. His ambition is to be a successful businessman.
HEARTS 1985 SQUAD
Joseph Nii Boi Odoi
Joseph Nii Boi Odoi Affectionately called Joe Tex he is one player whose serious approach to the game has catapulted him to the top within a short time.
Born in Accra on 21st September 1964 to Mr Emmanuel Mmai Odoi a businessman and Mary Badoo a trader, Joe Tex started serious football with Standfast in 1981 and joined Hearts in 1984.
One-time goal king Peter Lamptey was the player who attracted him to the game.
His favourite player at the moment is Isaac Acquaye of Great Olympics and French man Platini is his idol abroad.
The Mirror is Joe’s favourite newspaper. Asante Kotoko is the other team that he admires apart from Hearts and Azumah Nelson is the sportsman he most admires.
Joe’s favourite food is rice. Michael Jackson is one person in the world he would like to meet.
SAMPSON STANLEY LAMPTEY
Voted one of the outstanding players in the 1982 African Cup of Nations tournament in Libya, Sampson Lamptey is a stalwart, serious and intelligent player.
He is brilliant both in the air and on the ground. Though a close marker, Sampson is not robust and his knack for attacking play has earned him some vital goals for his club and Ghana.
Sampson Lamptey was born in Accra on 15th April 1958 to Sampson Oxford Lamptey, a professional accountant, and Charlotte Omaboe, a petty trader.
He started big time football with GIHOC Stars before signing for the Phobians from where he caught the selectors’ eyes for the Black Stars.
Sampson left for the Ivory Coast in the middle of 1982 and played for Africa Sports until late last year when he opted again to play for Hearts.
His favourite player in Ghana is Ben Kayede. Joe Odoi’s idol abroad is Falcao of Brazil. A. S. Roma of Italy is the foreign team he admires most and Sekondi Hasaacas is his other favourite team locally.
He is a music lover and the person in the world he would like to meet is Gregory Isaacs.
Cheers everybody and keep loving sports.
