Abedi Begins Journey. Adjudged Best Coach
Football maestro, , may have begun another illustrious journey into the technical side of football after being named Coach of the Tournament after masterminding FC Nania’s historic feat as the first division one side to win the MTN FA Cup after defeating Kumasi Asante Kotoko in the final at the Accra Sports Stadium.
As Ghana’s most illustrious footballer who won three back-to-back African best player awards in his hey day, the manner in which Abedi crafted his club’s MTN FA Cup win with giant-killing feats against Glo Premier League kings, Berekum Chelsea, en route to taming Kotoko with a 1-0 victory underlined the coaching potential of the former national team captain.
As Sam Arday, his former Black Stars coach, presented Abedi who was resplendent in a grey designer double-breasted suit with his prize at last Sunday’s MTN FA Cup Awards at the Movenpic Ambassador Hotel, it may just have been the most fitting presentation and a change of baton from a veteran coach to his protégé whose garden looks even greener and yet always distances himself from a future professional coaching career.
Coach Arday, who together with Abedi was bestowed with the highest civilian state honour of Order of the Volta, believes the Soccer Maestro would make a successful coach, given his rich exploits and exposure in the game and the manner in which he crafted Nania’s victory.
Although not a trained and certificated coach, Abedi proved in the FA cup he had the Midas touch, just as his deft touches during his heyday as a player. Nania did not only rewrite football history with class, but also swept the honours last Sunday, winning six out of nine prizes as a Nania FC player was nominated in all competitive categories for players.
Coach Arday was philosophical when he told the Graphic yesterday that the football legend must rethink his position about steering clear of a fulltime coaching role because he had demonstrated he had what it takes to become a successful coach.
“Abedi is a legend who has played at the highest level and has been exposed to the best football tactics, and for such a person to take to coaching, you are almost guaranteed a successful career because he knows every trick in the book,” said Coach Arday, who coached Abedi at different times at the national team.
“I believe he has proved beyond doubt what a great coach he could be, so I’ll advise him to reflect on this call and an opportunity for the nation to tap into his rich knowledge and experience as a future Black Stars coach, just as his friend Marcel Desailly has done by undertaking a coaching course in preparation for a new career.”
Despite the adulations for delivering quality football in the tournament, Abedi refused to be carried away by the latest addition to his rich trophy cabinet. The Maestro maintains he would remain the head coach of Nania FC only and groom talented young players, but had no immediate plans for a fulltime coaching career.
He is not amused at a policy directive by the Ghana Football Association that only trained coaches with UEFA Licence B qualification will be allowed to handle clubs in GFA-sanctioned competitions effective next season.
“That’s totally wrong,” Abedi told the Graphic Sports.
“If that policy was targeted at Abedi Pel,e then so be it.”
“Just ask [Franz] Beckebauer if he had a coaching licence before coaching Germany to win the World Cup in 1990. I enjoy what I’m doing with the boys and I’ll continue to do it to the best of my knowledge.”