{"id":440340,"date":"2011-06-13T13:45:00","date_gmt":"2011-06-13T13:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/2011\/06\/13\/interview-ghana-youth-striker-samuel-affum\/"},"modified":"2011-06-13T13:45:00","modified_gmt":"2011-06-13T13:45:00","slug":"interview-ghana-youth-striker-samuel-affum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/06\/13\/interview-ghana-youth-striker-samuel-affum\/","title":{"rendered":"Interview: Ghana Youth Striker Samuel Affum"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"\"<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Samuel Affum<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The 2009\/2010 Ghana Premier League joint top scorer Samuel Affum shares his pride as a Hearts of Oak player, his boyhood love for Kotoko and his nightmarish experience during the Egyptian political turmoil.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Smouha FC striker in the Egyptian Premier Legaue spoke to GHANAsoccernet.com\u2019s Akyereko Frimpong Manson for the Ghana Sports Newspaper.<\/strong><\/p>\n

GhanaSports: Hello Sammy. Thank you making time to talking to Captivating Ghana Sports. How are you?<\/span><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

Samuel Afum:<\/span><\/strong> By the grace of God I\u2019m doing very well. I hope Ghana is fine.<\/span><\/p>\n

GS: Ghana is nice and calm as usual. Let me begin by asking you how the season has gone so far.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

SA:<\/span><\/strong> Well the season has not ended. I will say Smouha is not lying in a good position so I am working very hard to ensure that we move out of the relegation zone. <\/span><\/p>\n

GS:<\/span><\/strong> So you think you can survive relegation at the end of the league season?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

SA:<\/span><\/strong> I know with how things are going we can escape relegation. Our defenders have to be on their mettle and stop some of the goals we concede. <\/span><\/p>\n

GS:<\/span><\/strong> In the 2009\/10 season you won the top scorer award and became very popular most the local fans in Ghana. Tell us brief where you started playing in Ghana and ended at Hearts of Oak.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

SA:<\/span><\/strong> I started playing football when I was seven. My father realised I like football so anytime he came from work in the evening he made sure there is football in the house for me to play. Then at 12, I joined Ken Harrisson Babies and played there for their U14 and U17 teams. Coach Ahmed Rockson and several others were there. I played seven years with them until Hearts of Oak in 2006.<\/span><\/p>\n

GS:<\/span><\/strong> And did you ever dream of playing for Hearts of Oak?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

SA<\/span><\/strong>:<\/strong> For me it did not come as a surprise because I made my mind to play football so I targeted everything thing in football.<\/span><\/p>\n

GS:<\/span><\/strong> As a young player coming into a big club, when you arrived at Hearts of Oak how was the feeling?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

SA:<\/span><\/strong> I remember vividly my first day the Hearts of Oak training ground. The fans at the training ground were massive. Then I realised that the task ahead was big. Train hard and convince the coach that I can also help the club when I\u2019m given the chance- Mitko Dobrev.<\/span><\/p>\n

GS:<\/span><\/strong> How did you find your first season at Hearts of Oak?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

SA:<\/span><\/strong> Very hard. I was registered in the second round and because I was young, I had very little chance to express myself on the pitch and there were also a lot of big names in the team. I sat on the bench for most part of the season. But I must tell you that the period I spent on the bench actually edged me on to train hard and break into the first team the follow season. It helped me build confidence in myself.<\/span><\/p>\n

GS:<\/span><\/strong> At Hearts of Oak, defeat is greeted with insults and accusations. Most of them were directed at sometimes, how did you manage the situation?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

SA:<\/span><\/strong> You know Hearts of Oak are a big club so sometimes when we perform below expectations the fans go mad and I understand their frustration because there were times that we were not doing well. Do you know how I get the insults on the playing field? hahahaha. But in all this, I had to keep my cool and continue playing till I score a goal. <\/span><\/p>\n

GS<\/span><\/strong>: Two and half seasons on, you won the goal king title with 13 goals. In the last league game against Hearts of Lions you scored goals that generated controversy. What are your responses to this?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

SA:<\/span><\/strong> I will not like to talk about that game.<\/span><\/p>\n

GS: In that same season you helped Hearts of Oak to defeat Kotoko in both Kumasi and Accra scoring in both games. How did you find Hearts of Oak-Kotoko games?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

SA:<\/strong> Yeah! Very interesting. Trust me they are not ordinary games. You know matches between the two do not follow form guide. In that season, I was in good shape so I buried them. I wasted a lot of chances in that game in Kumasi, chances I should have scored.<\/span><\/p>\n

GS: Is Samuel Afum a Hearts of oak supporter?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

SA:<\/span><\/strong> Hahahahahhaha. Hearts of Oak is a big family. I am part of the family now but I must admit when I was a child I was a Kotoko fan. <\/span><\/p>\n

GS: After such a big season Hearts fans mourn your departure. How did you feel leaving the club?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

SA:<\/span><\/strong> I think every footballer playing in Ghana now will like to move outside and play if he gets the opportunity and I\u2019m no exception. It was difficult to leave Hearts of Oak but I had to leave and search for opportunities elsewhere and I came here. <\/span><\/p>\n

GS: When the political unrest occurred, you were thrown into a state of despair and you had to leave the country.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

SA:<\/span><\/strong> Yes. True I had to go to Dubai and come to Ghana because it was not safe staying there. It never helped things in the country. You see the impact on football in the country. The national team is not doing well and the league too was delayed.<\/span><\/p>\n

GS: You play alongside veteran Godwin Attram. What influence has he had on you?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

SA:<\/span><\/strong> Attram is a very good player and I am learning a lot of things from him. <\/span><\/p>\n

GS: Any move on the cards?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

SA:<\/span><\/strong> Hopefully my next move is definitely going to be either France or Germany.<\/span><\/p>\n

GS: Finally the Black Meteors. You failed to beat Sudan and qualify for the next round of qualifiers. What do you think contributed to the defeat?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

SA:<\/span><\/strong> We did our best to qualify but it was no good. We have to look ahead for other games. There is the All African Games qualifier but I don\u2019t think I can make it because of our calendar.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/p>\n

Original post:
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