A story of upgraded ambitions and the ‘Liberty dream’

By Fiifi Anaman
18-year-old Daniel Kordie is a midfielder you'd love to watch. The petite 18-year-old has all the right boxes ticked; power, an eye for a pass, flair, tenacity, name them.

Against Heart of Lions on Sunday, Okordie – as his Liberty Professionals teammates call him – unleashed a well-weighted, technically perfect shot that rattled Lions' net from just outside the box with his weaker left foot. Lions keeper Stephen Ahorlu had vacated his box whilst chasing Liberty attacker Michael Appiah, who himself was pursuing a 'hollywood' pass from midfielder Latif Abubakar. Appiah took the ball away from Ahorlu and his box, but the veteran goalie was neck-deep in the chase and wouldn't retreat, following Appiah out of his area.

The ball found it's way back to Liberty winger Tamimu Muntari, whose immediate instinct was to try and lob the ball over Ahorlu, who was at this point embarrassingly making his way back to his box.

A crowded area meant Muntari had to lay the ball on for Kodieh -  whose impeccable technique to caress the ball with his feet with the right dose of power and accuracy was as remarkable as the audacity with which he tried. The goal was glorious, and his teammates celebrated it as such, with passionate hugs down the touchline. It was the only goal of the game, securing Liberty's sixth win of the season and propelling the young club to seventh place going into recess, four points off a possible top four place.

“Power has always been my thing,” Kordie smiles in an interview with allsports.com.gh . “My coaches at colts level noticed it early in my development that it was my skill and made me practice it over and over again.”

And how good at it he's become. The goal was Kordie's third this season in 13 games, and his first was even more stunning. It came against King Faisal, and it was sweet; a hit that traveled so fast that goalkeeper Ibrahim Iddrisu dived after it had bounced of the back of the net.

Daniel Kordie
Kordie has been influential in a Liberty team that has grown into the season  and now play with a noticeable surge in confidence. His attitude and work ethic constitutes an interesting microcosm of the whole team soul – and his commitment is up there; winning balls, distributing with finesse or starting attacks with an ambition that is admirable for a player so diminutive and so young. His mesmerizing expressiveness on the field of play contrasts his shy, soft-spoken personality off it.

He has grown under the effective influence of his relatively more experienced midfield partner Abubakar Latif. The bulky Latif rotates defensive and offensive duties with Kordie – the duo forging a sort of chemistry that makes Liberty's midfield had to content with. “Latif helps my game a lot,” Kordie admits. “He's more experienced and advises me always. We're also room mates during camping, so we talk a lot on how to play.”

Okordie – who says his role model is Real Madrid and Spain's Xabi Alonso – is a piece of a much bigger jigsaw masterminded by coach George Lamptey. It's amazing how a club can recover so quickly after it has either lost or sold most of it's key players. Liberty last season had in their fold midfield goal machine Kennedy Ashia and the deadly forward Ebenezer Assifuah – a duo that scored 23 of their 31 league goals last season. Before this season commenced, the duo's exploits at this year's FIFA Under 20 World Cup as part of Ghana's bronze-winning class of players had meant foreign clubs noticed, with Assifuah signing for Scion in Switzerland and Ashia penning for SK Brann on loan in Norway.

Ebenezer Assifuah
There were others on the mass exodus train too; the likes of goalkeeper Daniel Adjei, right back Yusif Ayoma, captain David Addo, left back Atta Kusi, midfielders Kassenu Ghandi, Richmond Naizer, Kwame Boahene and Emmanuel Adjetey amongst a host of other players that formed the core of the squad that finished 12th last season are all no longer part of the group.

It's a wholly different set-up this season, yet the continuation has been seamless. Coach Lamptey has wiped away the inevitable depletion by building another team within months – a team bustling with talent and a lot of desire.

Read: FEATURE – Michael Appiah is Liberty's new star man http://allsports.com.gh/2013/10/31/meet-michael-appiah-liberty-professionals-latest-star-man/?utm_source=facebook_post&utm_medium=timeline&utm_campaign=facebook#

The team is difficult to play against at home – playing with a sort of confidence and purpose that makes them hard to keep up with. They have picked up all three points in five of their eight home games this season. On Sunday, Heart of Lions were in their elements and matched them boot for boot in passing and creation of chances, but not even the brilliance of striker Samuel Ayew Yeboah – with five strikes this season – could inspire Lions to salvage at least a draw.

George “King George” Lamptey
King George – as coach Lamptey is popularly referred to – has managed to put together a brand new youthful side and yet there hasn't been a significant performance or output difference. In fact, they have managed one point more that they did at this time last season, and are on course towards making a significant impact in the second round. For a club that has long been seen as unambitious and apathetic towards raising their game to a level of title-challenging competitiveness, their attitude this season has been indicative of the fact that they want to make an impact.

At home games, their mall groups of fans from Dansoman – the community outside of Accra where they are based – turn up at the Accra Sports Stadium, their moving music riding on the echo and reverberating across a stadium that struggles with attendances. There have been a maximum of at least 500 fans at the over 40,000-seater stadium per every home game, but that has not dampened their spirit.

The club have had to move to the Accra Sports Stadium because their own stadium [the eight-year-old Alhaji Sly Tetteh Memorial Park in Dansoman, formerly known as the Carl Reindorf Park] is undergoing works . “It has affected us a lot because we have not had the opportunity to train on grass due to our stadium being worked on. So we've had problems with our ball control since we only play on grass on match days,” captain Alfred Nelson tells allsports.com.gh .

“But we all advised ourselves that if we want to get to where we want to, then we have to put in more effort. Everyone on the team is determined to give their all, and that is why we are doing well,” he adds. “We've all resolved to put in a lot of effort this season to get to where we want to be. We realized we don't have to be satisfied with just being part, but being strong and competitive.”

Nelson, who is captaining the side after signing permanently having had two separate loan stints at the club, is a tough tackling center back whose sense of duty and responsibility has been praised immensely this season. He come across as very intelligent and pragmatic. “I realized from a personal perspective that my output had been normal over the past few seasons and I got to a point where I felt I had to move to the next level and put in more effort and go all out,” he says.

His attitude – of striving not to settle for anything short of being 'simply the best', as the team motto says – has diffused effectively across the squad. His leadership already looks like it is shaping the team's ambitions.

The Scientific Soccer lads will be returning to their original home ground in the second round, as works on the facility are almost done. Nelson says that will hand a huge boost to their confidence – playing in front of their cherished fans once more. He feels a top four spot – which will be their first since 2008, signaling a return to their formidable old selves – is very much possible this season. “Oh why not. Why not,” says Nelson. “That was our target before this season commenced and we are all focused and serious about our chances.”

The bit of extra effort they are putting in has it's perks too – every Liberty game is littered with football agents painstakingly scouting for a next Essien or Muntari. Midfielder Joseph Mensah has been the first to benefit, already having a trial outside under his belt, another in the pipeline. Everyone of the players is away of the competitive edge the club has on the world market due to the reputation they have for churning out talent, and all the players want eagerly want in.

“Liberty is a club that every young player feels blessed to play for,” Kordie says. “They've produced the likes of Sulley [Muntari], [Michael] Essien and some other good players.” Some other good players like Kwadwo Asamoah, who's meteoric rise from Kumasi through to Liberty – a journey similar to Kordie's – has seen him become one of the world's most recognizable player, plying his trade with Juvenetus.

“My dream has always been to move to Europe and become a great footballer,” Kordie adds. “It is every player's dream to move to Europe and become a world class footballer.”

Kordie moved from Kumasi – where he played for the famed Corners Babies Colts club – to Accra to pursue his dream of following in the footsteps of Essien as a highly sought-after, big-money-earning midfielder in Europe one day.

That same 'Liberty dream' has inspired many others. Ten years ago, it was the likes of Eric Bekoe, Asamoah Gyan and Michael Helegbe in the shoes of these young players. Before then, former Ghana right back John Pantsil had also played for the club.

Kennedy Ashia
In deed, Kennedy Ashia for instance recalled how he started out as a trotro [local commercial mini van] drivers' mate back in the rural community of Dunkwa, rising to play for their local side Starke FC and eventually being driven by the dream to comer to Accra and join in the fellowship of hope and determination at Liberty. After close to four seasons waiting patiently for his chance at a side choked with talent and aspirations, he made his breakthrough last season – a breakthrough that saw him score 14 goals from midfield (joint second highest top scorer) and saw him get the chance to play at the Under 20 World Cup.

Assifuah too. The young goal poacher has made a remarkable transitional step-up rare for strikers; going straight from Liberty in the Ghanaian top flight to a top flight side in Switzerland as a 20-year-old, and fitting in almost immediately, scoring thrice in eight appearances off the back of top scoring in the Under 20 World Cup earlier this year.

Kordie and co know that it could be them in a few years time. And they are leaving no stone unturned in the quest to make a name for themselves.

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