Mukarama aims to reignite career with Hasaacas Ladies.
Mukarama Abdulai, the talented forward of Hasaacas Ladies, has expressed her determination to reignite her career in domestic football and make a triumphant return to European football. Her recent signing with Sekondi Hasaacas Ladies FC, she said, had fuelled her ambition.
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Dispelling rumours that her stint in Spain was less than successful, the 20-year-old striker pointed to injuries as the primary factor that hindered her performance at Deportivo Alavés in the Spanish Women's League. When she embarked on her Spanish adventure in July 2021, expectations were sky-high due to her outstanding track record in previous years.
However, in January of this year, both Abdulai and Alavés mutually terminated her contract, leading to her return to the local scene. While some skeptics view this as a step backward in her career, the striker sees it as a strategic move to revitalise her path to Europe.
In her debut appearance for Hasaacas Ladies last Friday, Abdulai made an immediate impact by scoring in their 1-1 draw against Dreamz Ladies in the ongoing 2023 Women's Premier Super Cup in Kyebi.
In an exclusive interview with the Graphic Sports last Friday, the player vehemently refuted claims of failure in Spain, attributing her limited playing time to the prolonged injury she endured and not because of a lack of form.
“They cannot say that I wasn’t successful in Spain because I had an injury right from the beginning of the season which lasted for a very long time so I only played a few matches,” she said.
“My two-year contract with the team ended so I came back home to be treated by my personal doctor. Anybody that will say that I failed does not know the game. I have seen comments like that but I don’t let them affect me.”
She was of the view that returning to the local scene was the antidote she needed to relaunch her career, especially as she hoped to return to Europe soon.
“At a point in life people need to start from somewhere and that is exactly what I am doing. People don’t know the story so they make all sorts of negative comments but those comments don’t have any effect on me,” she said.
Abdulai, formerly of Northern Ladies, has represented Ghana at various levels, including U-17, U-20 and the senior national team. She has netted a total of 21 goals while representing the national teams.
However, it was at the 2018 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup in Uruguay that she truly captured the world's attention as she won the Golden Boot for being the tournament’s top goal scorer with seven goals and two assists.
In addition, she won the Bronze Ball as the tournament's third-best player and crowned her efforts by being named the 2018 SWAG Women's Footballer of the Year.