Hearts Kotoko oldies play; Joe Debrah, Preko to thrill fans
Joe Debrah, once a local football hero blessed with deft touches and grace on ....the field, makes a long trip from Dusseldorf in Germany to Kumasi for one more — perhaps one last — hurrah at the Baba Yara Stadium when he leads a line-up of former Asante Kotoko icons into a ceremonial clash with their Hearts of Oak counterparts on Sunday.
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The occasion — a friendly game intended to raise funds for the retired footballers — can hardly match the days when such assemblage of local super stars at the stadium brought the whole nation to a standstill.
However, the emotion generated by Sunday’s match has affirmed the pride of place of the football celebrities to the extent that it has virtually evoked the nostalgia of a Hearts-versus-Kotoko clash of the late ’80s and early ’90s when Debrah and his peers were on top of their game.
In those days, Joe Debrah and the late Shamo Quaye of Hearts formed two halves of a football bi-polar world that elevated the age-long club rivalry to an interesting personality contest on the field.
The two stars had burst onto the local scene at about the same time. ‘Papa’ Shamo, a product of Dr Nyaho-Tamakloe’s famous ‘Musical Youth’ revolution of the late-’80s, had emerged as an outstanding playmaker with sublime skills, an attacking sense and a passionate competitor whose goals supplied a special bonus to his game.
In Kotoko’s offensive midfielder Debrah, he found a natural counterpart and rival who combined skill with aggression and a goal-scoring ability, and the attendant “who is who” debate even outlasted their half-decade presence in the local league.
It seemed a matter of fate that they both played for Africa Sports in Cote d’Ivoire, and Shamo’s sudden death in 1997 left the debate hanging.
On Sunday, courtesy a former director of Kotoko, Kennedy Agyepong, CEO of Kenpong Group of Companies, Debrah’s trip into town will lighten up the stands when he joins former team-mates Michael Osei, Thomas Boakye, Kalilu Dramani, Stanley Aboraah, Frimpong Manso, Emmanuel Ampiah, Frank Amankwaa and others against former Hearts greats such as Emmanuel ‘ Senegal’ Armah, Thomas Quaye, Anyetei Sowah, Ishmael Addo, Joe Addo, Paul Adjoda, Sola Ayew, Yaw Preko, among others.
It remains to be seen if Hearts icon Ablade ‘Sabato’ Kumah has overcome a nagging knee injury that truncated a promising career and has persisted long after his retirement, to join the party on the field in Kumasi.
Such is the array of stars on parade on Sunday that the occasion is reported to have been sold out already for what is expected to be a journey into the past — which may never happen again among these stars.
Story: Michel Quaye/Graphic Sports