Strasbourg forward Abdul Majeed Waris has revealed what he claims is his most memorable game ever. And, perhaps surprisingly, it is a game of international football.
Having made his national team debut in February 2012 as the Africans played a 1-1 draw with Chile, he has been a regular in Ghana’s squad.
He boasts 31 appearances and four goals and picked the 6-1 obliteration of Egypt in Kumasi as the encounter he holds most dear.
Having scaled Zambia’s hurdles in the second round en route to qualification for Brazil 2014, the Black Stars were pitted against the Pharaohs with the winner over two legs qualifying for the global football showpiece.
After a lackluster performance at the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations where they were placed fourth, the Ghanaians were rated as outsiders against the North Africans.
However, it was the Black Stars who shone brightly in the first leg after hitting Egypt for six at the Babayara Stadium on October 15, 2013.
In the seven-goal thriller, Waris found the net once while the Pharaohs’ consolation strike came from Mohamed Aboutrika from the penalty spot.
The return leg in Cairo ended 2-1 but that could not stop the Ghanaians from reaching their World Cup finals.
“I think it was a national team game, Ghana against Egypt in the qualifiers for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. We beat Egypt 6-1 and that took us to the World Cup,” the 29-year-old told Get French Football News.
“A few Ghanaians were worried we were going to lose the game because Egypt had a very good team. We were playing in Ghana, it was great weather, a nice pitch and the stadium was unbelievable.
“It was crazy. We ended up beating them 6-1, I scored and then I think I set up two goals – the country went crazy.”
Waris did not make Kwesi Appiah’s cut for the 2019 Afcon staged in Egypt, however, he wasn’t disappointed with the decision because ‘there’s a lot of politics’ in national team selection.
Article continues below
“For me, I think it’s always good to play for your nation if you have the opportunity because you can always count yourself lucky if your whole country is calling on you to play for them. You are lucky,” he continued.
“I feel like I’ve played quite a lot of games, at the beginning, I used to be very happy any time there was a national team game coming up but I’ve grown up to understand that there’re a lot of politics around the national team when it comes to selecting players for the tournaments.
“That made me realise a lot of things and lose a bit of interest because the selection is not based on your merit, it’s only based on politics. I feel like this is not very good because it’s affecting the nation as well.”
Leave a comment