www.ghanafa.org reproduces The Times' report about the dream that turned into living nightmare for a Ghanaian player and two Africans as they search for a career move to Europe:
“An African nation will win the World Cup before the year 2000” - Pelé
While Pelé’s predictive skills will never match his footballing prowess, there is no doubting that African footballers have made a huge impact on the world game at club level. Europe, with all the financial and lifestyle rewards it has to offer, is usually the destination of choice, with probably the Barclays Premier League at the top of the list. But Cambodia? African footballers in Cambodia?
Samuel, Linford and Kenneth are proof that football has no boundaries and that Africans have no limits, even where there is no money or market for them. They are united by the same story. Not one of them wanted to come to Cambodia, not one of them wants to be there and all three of them have been pretty much abandoned by the agent who got them there. They would all like to leave, but they make such little money that they cannot afford to.
When I met these three in Phnom Penh, Samuel, Linford and Kenneth were as intrigued as I. “Could I help them?” they asked. “Could I help get them a club in Europe? Or at least a trial?” And a few days later, this continued over e-mail. Any news? Could I help?
And I, in turn, wondered: what are you boys doing here? Why? And how did you get here? These are their stories, none of which has an ending and won’t have until they finally find a way out.
Kenneth Akpueze. Midfield player, Nigerian, 21
“I flew from Nigeria to India. I was en route to Australia. An agent in Nigeria had said that he would take me there to play: a good club, good money, everything. But in India, I couldn’t get an Australian visa. I stayed one month in Delhi in a hotel.
So I called the agent and he said that he had a friend in Cambodia and that I had to come here to meet him, that they played very good football here and that maybe I could make decent money here. I said: ‘OK.’ I didn’t have any alternative. I bought my Cambodia ticket and I met the friend here, but he didn’t know anything about football, didn’t even know if they played football here.
“I stayed here three or four months before I got a trial with a club and now I am here with Phnom Penh Empire. I never heard from my manager in Nigeria again. I am paid $250 a month here, that hardly takes me through half of the month. But I cannot return home. Africans never go home empty-handed. I cannot go home without making any money and I have to do something to take care of my family. If I go home now, my brother will ask: ‘How about my money?’ It was my brother who paid for my ticket here.
“Even now, my family back home are expecting money. They call me: ‘You have to send money.’ My younger brother rang recently, saying that my sister is very unwell and that I have to send money for her to go to a hospital. But I don’t have any money.
“So I’d like to move. Anywhere would be better than Cambodia. I am planning to go to Singapore to play. I’d love to go to Europe, but nobody sees you in Cambodia. No one sees Cambodian football on TV, no agents come here - so how would anyone see us?”
Linford Bernard. Defender, Ghanaian, 26
“I left Ghana on January 19, 2006. I was meant to go to Thailand to play, I was never meant to come here and now I am stuck.
“The problem is money. My money runs out before the end of the month and yet my family at home expect me to send money to them. If I don’t send money, I am nothing. If I don’t send money, I cannot say anything to explain myself. So I have to go to my manager here and borrow money from him. At the end of every month, I say: ‘I am never borrowing money again.’ But I always have to.
“When I was in Ghana, I had my own car. Selling the car helped pay for me to come here. If I go back, I won’t have money or a car and people will say: ‘Why did you leave?’