I watched Jan Koller on TV but got the chance to meet him today in person

Former Togo international and one of the most famous strikers to have graced the football field as an African, Emmanuel Sheyi Adebayor has expressed his joy in playing against a former Borussia Dortmund and the Czech Republic striker Jan Koller during the BVB Legends versus African Giants at the Accra Sports Stadium on Saturday.

Lining up along several Ghanaian former stars in Stephen Appiah, Augustine Arhinful, Sam Johnson, Laryea Kingston and Sammy Adjei, the former Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspurs striker was full of praise for the organizers for making it possible for him to meet one of the footballers he watched on TV and never got the chance to meet during his long career in Europe.

“…I watched Koller on TV and today to just be in front of the giant is beautiful. I never had the chance to meet him in Europe and seeing him in Ghana because of Shooting Stars [organizers of the event] because of them taking the initiative to make things happen is beautiful.

“I will have the chance to tell my children in 2022, straight after Corona, Dortmund was in Ghana and I was part of that game. I am very happy and very pleased to count myself as a Ghanaian to be part of this beautiful idea.”

Speaking on the chances of African teams at this year’s world cup, the former Sparrow Hawks captain was optimistic and called for support for the five teams representing the continent.

“Listen, we have Senegal, we have Ghana, we have good teams. I am the one that made the draw in Cameroon in January and seeing all these teams that were qualified. We can say Senegal is one of the best teams in Africa right now. They have proven it. They won the Africa Cup of Nations. They have qualified for the World Cup. Either we like it or not we are Africans, we have to root for them, we have to show them love and let’s see what happens

“Obviously, with a little more of better organization, we can expect more or something beautiful out of it. We just kindly ask the FA to join hands with the old players because, at the end of the day they have been through that tournament so they know what is inside so they can share their experience with the younger players, they can share their experience with those who have never been to World Cup,” he stated.

“Ghanaians, what they showed at the cup of nations, we all doubted them but then they showed another face against Nigeria. We don’t have a choice right now, we just have to root for them, show them love, show them appreciation, show them that we are behind them so they can count on us so they can make something beautiful like the thing we saw in 2010 [quarter-final]