A former Black Stars, Karim Mahama Shani popularly known as ‘Star Boy’ believes Abedi Ayew Pele is a great player who cannot compare himself to legendary striker, Amusa Gbadamosi.
Amusa Gbadamosi who was part of the first Black Stars squad assembled by President Dr. Kwame Nkrumah played at the 1965 African Nations Cup won by Ghana.
The man who hails from Bimbila in the Northern region has been described by many who saw him play as one of the Ghanaian superstars to have graced the green turf.
Karim Mahama Shani who played with him in the 1960’s, described the former Accra Hearts of Oak player as a genius who had a unique style of playing football.
Despite playing with both the three time African player of the year, Abedi Pele, and a few other great players, Mahama Shani believes Amusa Gbadamosi was the best amongst all of them.
He, however, noted that Abedi Pele was only fortunate because he rose to fame when there was lots of cameras to broadcast matches whiles Amusa played in an era that lacked such technological devices to make him famous.
“He was a genius, I saw him. People who have never seen Amusa would never agree with what I’m saying. We’ve produced great players like Abedi, Gargo, Amza Mohammed, Shilla Illiasu, and a lot of us but Amusa was unique,” the Star Boy told TV3.
“If you see Amusa play, you will like it and admire him, he was an all-around player. Amusa was a good shooter, a good dribbler, and a playmaker. Amusa is the greatest player the North has ever produced.a
“When the Black Stars went to Brazil, how was Amusa received in his hotel?, Karim Mahama Shani asked while recalling the first time Ghana played Brazil in a football match.
He added, “Amusa finds it difficult to come out because the mob was always waiting for Amusa to come out. If you see him, he was the real Pele. If you talk about Ghana Pele it was Amusa Gbadamosi.”
“I have played along Abedi, he was lucky because his time he was exposed to the world, there were TV and camera’s all over the place, people were seeing him live so people like Abedi because he has the charisma but he cannot compare himself to Amusa Gbadamosi that’s all.”
