Former Ghana captain Stephen Appiah told a moving tale of how his old teammate Gargo Mohammed feigned an injury to enable him make his senior debut in Italy.
At the 9th EMY Africa Awards, Appiah gave a speech to accept the Continental Sports Icon Award and thanked Gargo for the opportunity.
In a brief statement, the former Juventus player described his early years as a football player in Europe and how his friend’s gesture allowed him to experience playing for the senior squad.
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“You still don’t understand. Anytime I see you, I bow. I bow because I appreciate what you have done in my life. I quite remember. I was with the junior side. I haven’t signed my contract yet.
“We played a friendly game, the senior side against Sturm Graz from Austria. We started the game, 80th minute Gargo Mohammed faked an injury for me to have the chance and I have the feel of the game,” he stated.
Udinese gave him a professional contract after being impressed by his brief cameo, which was highlighted by an out-of-the-box goal.
He described what Gargo told him prior to signing his first contract and how he was taken aback the following day to see his name in the Italian press.
“I came in 10 minutes to the end of the game; I scored a goal from 25 yards. The next day I saw myself in the newspapers, and I called Gargo Mohammed, I said there’s an article about me.
“So, I called him and he said okay come to the house. I took a bus, I went to the house and he said, the coach said… ‘Close the door and don’t let him run away.’ After two days, I signed my first international contract.”
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Gargo and Appiah were Udinese teammates. In addition to playing for Stoke City, Venezia, Genoa, Torino, and Qatari team Al-Wakrah SC, the latter began his career at Real Tamale United.
Following his 1997 transfer from Accra Hearts of Oak to Udinese, Appiah played for Juventus, Fenerbache, Parma, Brescia, Bologna, Cesena, and Vojvodina.
