Tuesday, January 07, 2025
The Professor in Spite of Himself, Part 2
When the young Carlos Alberto Parreira arrived in Ghana in 1967 to take up the post of national team coach, he found a number of surprises awaiting him. As a university graduate in Brazil, he was addressed as "professor" by the players - a hangover from British colonial times. Sitting down to eat lunch with the players after meeting them for the first time, he was puzzled by the shocked looks he received from his new charges. Previous coaches, apparently, had not deigned to mix with the players on such a relatively intimate level. Parreira immediately made it his custom to break bread with the players and stay in the same hotel in the same conditions, rather than in the comparative luxury favoured by his predecessors.
But the biggest surprises concerned the state of preparation and training in Ghana. The best (club) team in the country, he recalled, trained on a vacant lot in front of the Sheraton Hotel. "They went to work, came back at 5 o'clock, picked up a couple of stones to mark the goal, changed their clothes in a corner and went to play." This was not to last long under Parreira.
Ghana's "Black Stars" had already garnered two victories in the African Nations Cup, and boasted some great talent. The striker Osei Kofi, a star of the 1965 Nations Cup, was recognised as one of the finest players on the continent. Also in the forward line was Wilberforce "Willie" Mfum, who would go on to play professionally in America. The previous coach, C.K. Gyamfi, had already experienced considerable success with the side. Yet, on Parreira's arrival, Gyamfi uncomplainingly accepted being relegated to second fiddle status, despite being fifteen years Parreira's senior. Such was the aura of Brazilian players and coaches at the time.
Parreira, although he harboured few illusions about his tactical acumen at that point, was determined to make his "mission" a success. To that end, he concentrated on what he knew best - physical preparation and training - and brought all his knowledge to bear, as well as the intelligence and charisma that his mentors back in Brazil had recognised. And he gained the players' respect quickly. "He was able to build our stamina, so that we could play two hours non-stop, in any competition," recalled Kofi many years later.
Another Ghanaian international of the time, Cecil Attuquayefio, was a member of his country's delegation when Ghana took the field against a Parreira-coached Brazil in the 2006 World Cup. "He was young like us, a strong guy," Attuquayefio recalled. "I'd very much like to meet him again!"
Ghana went into the 1968 African Nations Cup in Ethiopia as defending champions and one of the favourites. A scare against Senegal in their first match was followed by a late winner against Congo-Kinshasa (soon to be known as Zaire) and a comfortable win over Congo-Brazzaville. The semi-finals pitted them against the Ivory Coast in a thrilling game which ended in a 4-3 win for the Black Stars. Ghana were in the final for the third time in succession. This time, however, it was not to be their day; in a rematch against Congo-Kinshasa, the Ghanaians found the Congolese goalkeeper Kazadi Mwamba (later to have a wretched time at the 1974 World Cup) in defiant form, and lost 1-0.
No beginner's luck for Parreira, then. But this was not his only footballing duty during his time in Ghana. More in Part 3.
