RECENT events culminating in the exit of the highly regarded and respected coach Fred Osam Duodu has prompted me to return to the Starlets saga. For the records, I have had my doubts about the Starlets project since the mid 90s and have written extensively on this issue and shown clearly how wasteful this enterprise has been for Ghana football. It has wasted far more talents than it has produced. The most dangerous aspect was how it deluded us into thinking that winning tournaments with players who had completed Training Colleges parading as under 17s was the way forward for Ghana football.
Suddenly it became disadvantageous to have a huge frame or stature simply because it was more difficult to reduce the ages of such players and present them as Under 17s. We then produced a whole generation of diminutive players who had reached the peak of their playing careers. Recently genuine attempts are being made to rectify this anomaly but the accompanying “bad” results doesn't sit well with the football fan who saw our “Starlets” appear in four consecutive FIFA Under 17 tournament finals (91, 93, 95 and 97). But I strongly believe we are on the right path and regardless of the criticism, we must stay this course. Please read my article in the edition 018 of this paper, “Starlets Is the Sun Setting?”
Now to Osam Duodu. I have had to defend this great coach virtually all of my adult life. My first encounter with Osam was in 1978. As a boy, I watched him put together a team that virtually ruled Africa for half a decade. A little history would do here. By the early 70s, the New Horizon team that won the Nations Cup in 1965 and were twice finalists in 1968 and 1970, were in the twilight of the careers; the likes of Jones Attuquayefio, Rev Osei Kofi & co had to move on. Malik Jabir, Yaw Sam, Peter Lamptey and company were not as successful. So, we failed to qualify for the 72, 74 and 76 Nations Cup. Some may say Osam had time in 1978 but the remarkable thing he did together with able assistant Tony Eghan was to build a team to win the 1978 Nations Cup and more importantly, build the foundation for future dominance.
Let me explain. The 1978 squad included ageing players like Awuley Quaye, PSK Paha and Anas Seidu but he was bold to include young players (he would have taken a lot flak had it been today) like Haruna Yusif, George Alhassan, Emmanuel Quarshie, Addae Kyenkyenhene, Nketia Yawson and Francis Kumi. He took some really bold decisions like selecting only Ofei Ansah, Adolf Armah, Anas Seidu and Mohammend Polo from arguably the best team in Ghana and Africa then. He rather chose to select players from Cornerstones, Dumas, Fankobaa, SS 74, Olympics etc but it paid off.
During the tournament, due to injuries to Dan Owusu, Polo and Agyemang Prempeh he never really had a settled team. Take his decision to drop the mercurial Adolf Armah for the less experienced but efficient Addae Kyekyenhene after our games with Zambia and Nigeria. Kyenkyenhene was introduced in the third game against Upper Volta and played to the final. Osam's decision to bench “Thunder” Anas Seidu in favour of Dan Kayode was also unpopular. He eventually gave in during the semi-final against Tunisia but restored him in the final.
By 1980 our team was even stronger than the 1978 team. It was hard luck and hostile fans at Ibadan that curtailed our Nation Cup dreams (our opening game with Algeria was regarded as the best game of the tournament). Probably we missed the influence of players like Razak and Polo. By 1982, his youngsters had matured and they led another group of youthful players to conquer Africa. He was part of the technical team in Libya together with head coach C.K Gyamfi and Afranie. I sincerely believe that had he not been removed at the last moment in 1984, Ghana would have at least made it to the final in Abidjan.
The 1984 team was stronger player by player compared to the 1982 team. Players like Ben Kayode and Opoku Nti who were peripheral in 1982 had matured into truly top class players by 1984. Our talismanic players we had missed in 1982 returned to the team Francis Kumi, Polo and Abdul Razak. Our defence was bolstered by Joe Odoi (arguably the best defender of his generation). The fact that we used our entire “professionals” against Nigeria in the opening game and virtually all our local boys against Algeria in the second game showed we lacked technical direction.
Again, Osam was the first to win the African Youth Championship for Ghana in 1993 in Mauritius. He went ahead to the World Championship in Australia to win Silver and played the best football yet by our Under 20s. The visionary Osam Duodu was at it again in CAN 2002 in Mali. His introduction of youngsters like Razak Ibrahim, Derek Boateng, John Mensah and Michael Essien was heavily criticized in this country but we are all now witnesses to his foresight. Another remarkable achievement is what he did with Gambian football. He won for them their first ever continental title, led them to their first FIFA tournament where they beat the almighty Brazil and were unfortunate not to have progressed to the second round. If you think that was a fluke, the core of his team is now representing Gambia at the World U-20 tournament where Ghana is conspicuously absent. The fact that Gambia will not be making the trip to Korea for the U-17 tournament is testament to Osam's prowess.
Recently, he has been under a barrage of criticisms, some bothering on plain insults, sometimes from people who hardly know him. I hear he is too old. Ask South Africa how much they are paying Parreira (who is older) and why Sir Alex Ferguson is still at Manchester United. I also hear he is “blind”. That is almost laughable. We were all not happy with the Starlets we saw in Togo but can we confidently say it was all technical? The rot at the Starlets camp should be gotten rid off and nobody can convince me that Sellas Tetteh is better than Osam Duodu. To Mr. Fred Duodu, some of us still respect and appreciate your contributions to Ghana football. Keep your chin up, for you have nothing to be ashamed of.
Back to my Editor.
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