Augustine Okrah beats rejection to become the very best

By Fiifi Anaman
Augustine Okrah sighs anytime he hears anything relate to Asante Kotoko. The sigh is deep and engrossing. It embodies a sort of disappointment that can't be forgotten: a seemingly eternal feeling of sadness and despair.

He remembers how unwanted he was. How unwanted he felt. How he crushed into the deepest depths of self doubt and self pity. “One time, we went to train and I wasn't even considered good enough to train with the rest of my mates,” he remembers, the feeling of being let down still fresh in its reflection in his speech. “I sat on the bench. At training. Man, it was hard. I felt so sad.”

Okrah had joined Kotoko as a 17-year-old after catching the eye of coach Maxwell Konadu at Red Bull Academy, after having spent his formative years in Obuasi playing colts football.

But after impressing during the early days, his youthful exuberance dazzling momentarily (most notably a critically acclaimed performance in a 'Super Two Clash' with Hearts of Oak in October 2012) he slumped into vapid obscurity, struggling in a fruitless attempt to get noticed. His hard work never cut it in a environment with mercilessly high standards as he found playing time hard to come by. He was never good enough. And it hurt. It ate into his very soul. There were endless nights of worry, countless times when he could not hold back the tears.

“I told my mum I had had enough,” he remembers. “I couldn't go on anymore. I felt crushed. I felt, what if   football is not be for me after all.'”

His dark stint at Kotoko contrasted with the club's fortunes, as during that time they won back to back Premier League titles. In between, he left for a loan stint at Liberty Professionals, where he got some games to boost his confidence. But on his return, though there was a new coach, the gloom hadn't changed in the slightest, and it awaited frighteningly with open arms.

Then it reached the point where he was told point blank that he could offer nothing to the Kotoko cause. That his talent fell short of the standards. It was time to leave. He had joined Kotoko as a little boy from Obuasi with dreams of making his way up through the ranks, but what was supposed to be a blissful fairy tale became a devastating nightmare. Football had turned its back on young Okrah. He had failed.

Fast forward one year later and the Okrah himself can't believe how immensely things have changed: how dramatically the tables have turned. “I thank God,” he says calmly. “God has done it for me. I'm glad I never lost faith. I'm very happy how far I've come, where I am now.”

Yes, things are that surreal. Okrah is currently the Ghana Premier league's most talked about, most in-form star. The attacker, with a classic plump build, socks pulled over his knees all the time, has morphed into an absolute genius of a footballer, with a left foot that performs effortless magic week after week

He's a beast of an attacker, a tireless runner, a remarkable dribbler and a clinical finisher. The transformation has been all sorts of dramatic. It is true what they say about disappointment bringing the best out of its victims. “I am a better player now, I think,” he says.   “I feel reborn. I've improved. I'm a whole new Okrah.”

Before the start of the current season, his move to Bechem United, at the time freshly promoted to the Ghanaian top flight, was a step down, an inescapable indication of his failure at Kotoko. But he has turned it into a different story. “I made up my mind to bounce back and put in everything to be successful here,” he says.

And he has been. Okrah began the season under coach Milislav Bogdanovic, playing mainly as a winger. Match day after match day, his performances emboldened, and he soon endereared himself into the hearts of fans of the club. By the end of the first round, his industry from the wings had fetched him three goals.

Bogdanovic subsequently clashed with the club's management and quit, and by the second round, a new coach had arrived. Swede Tom Strand, young and with ambitious ideas, took over at the helm.

After his first game in charge, the 32-year-old Swede saw something special in Okrah, and he risked public ridicule likening him to Messi. “I think he can be compared to the legendary Lionel Messi because of his composure, shots on goal and movement with the ball.”

Strand immediately took particular interest in his star asset. “He called me aside and told me he wanted to use me as a striker,” Okrah says. “He said on the flanks, when ever dribble and I'm kicked down, the distance is too far to capitalize on during free kicks. So he wants me closer to the goal to pose more threat.”

It has worked. Okrah has gone on to score six goals in his last six league games, upping his season's tally to nine goals, just one behind current top scorer Seidu Bancey of Kotoko. He has also emerged as th tp scorer of this year's FA Cup, scoring four goals in three games. Cumulatively, Okrah has scored ten goals in his last nine games in all competitions. “Strand has helped me a lot. Now I score a lot of goals,” he reflects. “I hope to keep that up and help my team.”

Now with 13 goals in all competitions http://allsports.com.gh/2014/03/15/augustine-okrah-inspires-bechem-to-home-win-against-all-stars/ , Okrah has emerged as as not only the lynchpin of the “Pride of Ahafo” – as Bechem have come to be known these days– he has set himself apart from his peers as the very best Ghana has to offer currently. “Okrah is a fantastic footballer, an extremely inventive and influential player with a gifted special technical ability. He is the future of Ghana and his club,” his club CEO Kingsley Osei Bonsu adds his voice to the massive out pour of public praise for the 20-year-old's rare talent. “He consistency split opens defences so easily, passes ball with pinpoint accuracy, scores goals and provides assists with his extraordinary vision and creativity.”

Okrah says he does not ever want to return to Kotoko, but what he feels for the club has gone past the unfortunate phase of hatred. He is now thankful for his experiences, as they have inspired him to work his socks off to make something of his young career. He is now an enduring product of rejection. A proud valedictorian of the school of hard knocks and set backs.  A victor of struggle. “Football is all about struggling,” he says. “It's not been easy at all.”

Okrah's exploits have now directed the spot lights unto himself. Defenders have taken notice and made notes. He has become a target. But he's been through worse. And giving up left his dictionary years ago. He aims to continue to improve till its not possible to do so anymore. Till he's battered every defence in Ghana, like his role model Messi does for Barcelona in the Spanish La Liga week in, week out. “I've always liked Messi and I've always wanted to play like him,” he confesses.

A great man once said failure is only the end if you let it be the end. Okrah's show of strength to fight on and bounce back, to reinvent himself and soldier on, has made the difference. In a career that threatened to end as fast as it began, he has chose belief over despair, self-confidence over self-pity.

And it has been rewarding. As far as natural talent alongside current performance goes, Bechem United's number 10 shirted man is undoubtedly the very best in Ghana right now. He rules the roost with his technical brilliance and majestic play making artistry. Now, after all he's been through, he's made of steel, a phenomenon that is here to stay.

“My aim now is to reach the highest level of football and be able to help and support my family,” he says. “And I know God will do it for me.”

 
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