Ghana's Amputee football team are back-to-back African Champions after defending their title in Egypt, beating Morocco to win the 2024 Amputee African Cup of Nations.

The team is currently on a brilliant run, receiving deserving accolades and praise from Ghanaians for the feats achieved in the last two years.

However, it appears that the team's success is the fruit of a seed sowed by former Ghana U-17 goalie Ali Jarrah about 12 years ago.

Jarrah had a short-lived football career, with his popularity tied to being a member of the Ghana U-17 team that won the World Cup in 1991.

The former Hearts of Oak goalie was one of the big prospects in the early 1990s, but his career was cut short by a devastating injury.

The injury paralyzed him, ruined a reported interest from Liverpool and FC Koln, and ultimately ended his career.

This unfortunate event influenced his decision to take a career path in becoming a coach and an advocate for sportsmen and women with disabilities.

He was appointed as the Ghana Amputee head coach in 2012. He led them to a third-place finish in the 2012 AAFCON and subsequently led them to three different World Cups, finishing in the quarter-finals on all occasions.

Ali Jarrah currently serves as the technical director after he decided to step aside and adopt the role to make way for a new manager.

"I am the Technical Director. I started with them 12 years ago. I've taken them to three World Cups - Argentina, Mexico, and Russia. We were the first African country to get to the quarter-final on all occasions," he told Dan Kwaku Yeboah.

"I've stepped aside for a new coach to take over, with me backing him with my knowledge," he added.

During his tenure as the head coach, he helped the players transition into professional amputee players, with over 12 Ghanaian players playing amputee football abroad.

Ali Jarrah may not have lived his dream and did not reach his potential, but he has had remarkable accomplishments in impacting the lives of disabled sportsmen.

He urged Ghanaians to offer support to the Amputee team, adding that it is an avenue to get talented but disabled individuals off the street.

"Ghanaians should support amputee football to bring people from the street to exhibit their God-given talent despite their disability. You can't find disability; disability will find you. Every time we need support, we need Ghanaians to come through for us", he told Dan Kwaku Yeboah.


EE/EK