A determined Ghana National Amputee Football Team, the Black Challenge, warded off an initial challenge from the Kenyan Amputee Team, beating them 4-0 to zoom into the semifinals of the ongoing Cup of African Nations for Amputee Football (CANAF 2021) in Dar es Salaam, Taanzania.
Two goals in each half by Hamza Mohammed, Yussif Yahaya, and Mubarik Mohammed (2), sealed a semi-final berth and qualification to the World Cup in Turkey next year.
Playing without any player on the bench due to accumulated yellow cards by Captain Richard Arthur Opentil, the team showed their level of professionalism by playing to a pattern that kept the Kenyans running after their own shadows.
Frustrated by the dexterity of the Ghanaians, the Kenyans resorted to hard tackles that resulted in a red card to one of their defenders. That incident opened the door to two more at a time Ghana was leading by two goals.
Ghana now braces itself to face host nations, Tanzania, who beat Cameroon by three goals to qualify to the final stages.
Coach of the side, Stephen Obeng of Yeditepe Club of Turkey, challenged the players to make history by winning the cup after a seven-year break due to some internal wrangling in Ghana.
“Your destiny is in your hands and you have the ability to make history and change the story in Ghana,” he said.
A delighted Rev Richard Nii Amartey Adesah, President of the Federation of Africa Amputee Football (FAAF), urged the players to make Ghana proud by bringing the cup home.
“Please, make Ghana and yourselves proud by bringing this cup home. You have sacrificed with some of us to this point and this is the time to write your names in the history of Ghana,” Rev Adesah stated.
He was supported by the Administrative Secretary of FAAF, Theodore Mawuli Viwotor, who asked them to remain focused at this crucial moment.
The professional amputee football players of Ghana, based in Turkey, mobilized their own resources to attend the ongoing CANAF in Tanzania, to represent Ghana.
The players defied the ongoing court case that has bedeviled the once illustrious sport, to do the honors for Ghana. The team, made up of seven players from Turkey and a goalkeeper from Ghana, play with a player on the bench.
They were supported with jerseys by Ernestay Disability and Sports Foundation.
They, however, played the match against Kenya with no player on the bench due to two yellow cards to the captain who couldn’t play.
Stay tuned.
By Theodore M. K. Viwotor