A member of the unbeatable ‘Twinkle Twinkle little stars’ U-17 FIFA WC winning team, Attakora Amanianpong, believes respect for coaches and Ghana football Association officials played a key role in the team winning the tournament on Ecuadorian soil in 1995.
According to the former national football star, who also played as a defensive midfielder for Freiburg SC in the German Bundesliga, the coaches and the technical team especially the head coach of the side Samuel Arday of blessed memory played a major part in the team winning the ultimate in Ecuador after beating Brazil 3-2 on penalties at the Estadio Monumental Banco Pichincha.
“All the guys or the players in the team, we all wanted to achieve something for ourselves and our country and also the hunger to go outside or travel overseas and play football as our profession. We also made up our minds to give out our one hundred percent in the tournament and most essentially due to respect we had for our trainers, we listened attentively and showed them maximum respect, so I can confidently say our winning of the trophy in 1995 in Ecuador much depended on our understanding and respect for our bosses,” he said.
The Starlets won the tournament after beating Brazil 3-2 in the final to lift the trophy for the 2nd time in the history of the west African country, the goals were scored by Baba Sule (39’), Abu Iddrisu (45’) and Emmanuel Bentil (49’), Brazil’s equalizer came through Juan (47’) and Marco Antônio (90’).
BLACK STARLETS FULL SQUAD FOR THE 1995 FIFA U-17 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP.
Michael Abu, Nana Kwaku Attakora Amanianmpong, Kamara Dini, Patrick Allotey, Charles Akwei, Stephen ‘Tornado’ Appiah, Awudu Issaka, Christian Atta Gyan, Joe Ansah, Christian Saba.
Bottom Row (L-R); Baba Sule, Charles Allotey, Emmanuel Bentil © ,Bashiru Gambo, Richard Ackon, Abu Iddrisu, David Amoako.
Missing Out: Raymond Fenny, the 2nd choice goalkeeper is the only player missing from the photo for the 18-man squad for the tournament.
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STORY FILED BY JACOB NARH NORTAH.
Twitter: @NarhNortah
