Former Asante Kotoko coach Abdul Razak popularly referred to as the Golden Boy is not happy with Ghana FA for continuously snubbing him whenever appointing coaches for the national teams.
According to the former Ghana international, he has what it takes to handle any of the national teams but flabbergasted on why the Ghana FA keep ignoring him for national team appointment.
Speaking on Accra-based Angel FM, Abdul Razak, who won the 1978 AFCON for Ghana and went ahead to win the best player on the continent, believes now is the time for the Ghana FA to assign him with national team duties considering his achievements as player and coach.
“I played football to the highest level, won African best and won trophies with Ghana and Kotoko. I finished and took up coaching roles and won four league titles in Mali, I won in Sudan, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso and coached in UAE. I won league with Kotoko as a player and as a coach, won top 4 and SWAG Cups. I have done everything as a coach, so I don’t know what I have done wrong to these current generation of leaders”, he said.
“The likes of Attuquayefio and Ben Koffie who knew my worth gave me opportunities but now, some of us have been completely forgotten. I want to ask if I have offended anyone in power. What have I done? Why don’t I deserve to serve my nation again with all that I have? Why have I been forgotten at home like that? Do they want me to die before?”, he added..
Abdul Razak played for the Ghana national team, helping it win the 1978 African Cup of Nations. He was named African Footballer of the Year later that year.
He also played for clubs in the UAE, Egypt and Ivory Coast, was ranked by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) in 2007 as one of the confederation’s 30 best footballers of the previous 50 years.
He was born in Kumasi to Alhaji Abdul Karimu and Hajija Ishatu. He studied at Asem Boy’s Elementary School. He started his playing career at local youth team football, before moving to Kumasi Cornerstones in 1972.
In 1975, he moved to Ghana’s most successful club, Asante Kotoko. After a four-year spell with Kotoko, during which he became a member of the national team and earned the 1978 African Footballer of the Year award.
Abdul Razak left Ghana in 1979 for the New York Cosmos of the NASL, where he played alongside former World Cup winners Franz Beckenbauer and Carlos Alberto.
In1981, after spending almost two years at the New York club, the Ghanaian forward decided to return home, signing with his former club Asante Kotoko.
After one year, he moved, this time to Al Ain of UAE, where he spent two seasons. Razak then signed with Arab Contractors of Egypt, where he spent the next two years of his playing career. before returning to Ghana for a third spell with Kotoko. After another five years with the Ghanaian club, Razak moved to Ivorian side Africa Sports of Abidjan, where he retired two years later.
Abdul Razak was a member of the Ghana national team that competed at the 1978 African Cup of Nations as hosts of the tournament. He scored two game-winning goals, one against Zambia in the first round, and another one to defeat Tunisia 1–0 in semi-finals with decisive goal against Tunisia referred to as the “Golden Goal”.
Ghana defeated Uganda in the final, winning their 3rd continental title. In good part due to his effort to help Ghana win the African Cup, Razak was named African Player of the Year months later, becoming the second of three Ghanaian players ever to win the award.
According to a UEFA report, Abdul Razak appeared in a total of 70 international matches for Ghana, scoring 25 goals.
After retiring from active football, Abdul Razak, who had become a player-coach while at Al Ain, started his coaching career, being in charge of several semi-professional Togolese clubs, before moving to Benin’s AS Dragons FC de l’Ouémé.
In 2000, he had a short spell as an assistant coach of the Ghana national team. After leaving the Ghanaian side, Abdul Razak went to Mali, where he won the Malien Premiere Division and cup double with Stade Malien.
The club did not lose any matches on its way to winning the title.
In 2003, he was appointed the coach of Kumasi Asante Kotoko and helped the club win their first local league in ten years. He discharged of his post after the 2003–04 league season, eventually returning to Stade Malien for two additional seasons.
He also coached Real Tamale United in the Ghana Premier League from 2007 to 2009…
