Legendary Ghanaian footballer Abdul Razak ‘Golden Boy’ has revealed how a national team snub led to his first job as a coach.
The 1978 African Footballer of the year disclosed that he was forced gain experience from coaching a club side in other to gain a national team job.
“I started with ASFA Yennenga in Burkina Faso in 1994. Before then, I went to see Nana Brew-Butler [one-time GFA chairman] to give me a team to handle, but he refused my request and told me to handle a club side to gain experience. So, when I had the opportunity to coach ASFA Yennenga I took it with both hands,” he told Graphic Sports.
“In my first year in Burkina Faso, we placed second on the league table and won the Eyadema Cup on two occasions before leaving for Togo to coach Etoile Filante,” he added.
He continued:”I subsequently went to Benin to coach Dragons de l’Ouémé where I won the league on two occasions. It was with Dragons that I was invited by the GFA to become the deputy to coach Dossena in 2001.
“We played our first match against Tanzania and defeated them at home and away to qualify for the group stage of the Africa Nations Cup qualifiers.
“Our next match was against Sierra Leone in the 2002 FIFA World Cup qualifier and we defeated them 5-1 in Accra. After that match the authorities pushed out Dossena from the Black Stars.”
Source:Â Ghana Soccernet