Musah Making It Big In I League

INDIA may not be noted for big-time football. It is more popular with cricket. But hundreds of African and Brazilian football stars continue to invade the country that carries the second largest population in the world. Fact is, India wants to become one of the leading football nations in Asia and has injected a huge inflow of cash into its steadily-rising club football – the reason the country is becoming the cynosure of all eyes. Former national stars like Felix Aboagye, Michael Osei, Awudu Adama, Yusif Yakubu among many others including Brazilian imports like Edmilson and Alvito D’Cunha, have taken advantage of the windfall and are constantly stealing the captivating headlines. One of such invigorating performers carving a shimmering niche for himself and the nation is Sulley Musah, the finest central defender in India elite division – the I-League. Musah, is a six-foot-plus solid frame who combines strength and intelligence to great effect. He has speed and recovers well from the break. His biggest asset is abundant display of stamina, aggression and has a unique style of dispossessing opponents of the ball. The full-house central defender, who plays for Air India since 2005, is the longest serving African campaigner in the I-League – sparking off the business with East Bengal FC in 1998. Sulley, a captain extraordinaire, won several laurels during his seven-year long romance with the ‘Bengalians’ among which are the Asian Cup (2003), national league championships (2001, 2002, 2003) and the Durand Cup – the longest running highly prestigious annual tournament, contested by elite clubs. He was also the skipper when East Bengal garnered home the prestigious India Football Association (IFA) Shield on four glorious occasions since 1998. Known simply as ‘The Rock’ by some of his Indian fans, Sully who is now on holidays after a rather hectic season with Air India, told the Times Sports yesterday he was all-too ready to serve Ghana. Having monitored Ghana football for quite some time now, I think I am now prepared to contribute my quota to the national team, he stressed. The steel-like gangling defender expressed gratitude to his Air India Coach, Bimal Ghosh, for moulding him into a better performer at the rear.