Ghanaian football legend Abedi Ayew Pele has the proud achievement of producing three sons who are seriously following his illustrious career. Rahim Ayew, Dede Ayew and Jordan Ayew are all international stars who are plying their trade outside Ghana.

Some pessimists are prepared to blame Abedi for not keeping his boys in Ghana even though the decision for these three brothers to play abroad cannot be that of their father’s.

And perhaps it is to answer these pessimists that Abedi has decided to grow some home talents by forming a team himself called Nania FC.

For almost a decade he has been trying rather unsuccessfully to produce a team for the Premiership. Indeed, in his anxiety to reach the top quickly his team was involved in an embarrassing fixed match in the middle league  two seasons ago, The team was sanctioned  and Abedi’s image was dangerously on the line.

It took some fine PR promptings to restore his hard earned status and having been given a pride of place in the organization Africa’s first FIFA World Cup in South Africa 2010, the nasty scandal was conveniently thrown into the dustbin.

Luckily, as soon as the scandal began to fade, two of his sons Dede and Jordan, began to hit the international headlines with their soccer prowess at Olympique Marseilles in France giving Abedi’s name a marvellous pride of place in world football.  And at home, the team he has been nurturing over the years, Nania, also began to blossom.

Even though they failed to qualify for the elite league, they made amends by making waves in the rejuvenated FA Cup sponsored by communications giants MTN.

When Abedi’s youngsters swept all opposition in five qualifying matches without conceding a single goal, not much notice was taken presumably because of the quality of the opponents.

Nania beat Juantex 1-0, thrashed Mighty Youngsters 4-0, eliminated Kintampo Zamalek1-0, defeated Unity FC 2-0 and kicked out D’International 1-0 in the quarter- finals.

It was only when they held league Champions Berekum Chelsea to a pulsating 2-2 draw in the semi finals and ultimately ousted them 5-3 on penalties that football analysts began to sit up and reckon that Nania could be on the way to stardom.

But against defending FA Cup holders, Kumasi Asante Kotoko in the final, the general feeling was that Nania had “bitten more than they could chew”.

This is because Kotoko had shown real championship stuff in the preliminaries dismissing powerful Premier league clubs like Aduana Stars, Heart of Lions and Wa All Stars to reach the final.

Even though FA cup finals are noted for surprises and setbacks, even the most ardent   non admirer of Kotoko felt the “porcupine warriors” would be too powerful for the unsung Nania to surmount. But Abedi and his teenagers had other ideas.

They plotted a workable strategy by soaking the pressure in the first half and really stretched Kotoko to the full after the recess with delightful short passes that completely baffled their more illustrious opponents.

In the end, Nania managed to catch Kotoko off-guard in one fleeting moment and snatched the match-winner five minutes inside the second half of extra time.

You could see this was a match won from the bench. Nania played with Abedi Pele’s trademark undying fighting spirit as Kotoko woefully failed to alter their pattern of play.

Not many top footballers become good coaches and Abedi should be proud that even without any formal coaching lessons, he had been able to impart his brilliant skills to others. He now has all the bragging rights of an achiever in the football circuit.   He has told the media he has no intention to be a full time coach.

Well, maybe he hasn’t got the temperament for this thankless profession. He should however continue to assist his main man “Stylish” Anno Walker, to make Nania stronger as they venture into Africa next season.

Talking about the Africa Cup brings the question of financing. Some clubs in the past have failed to enter the tournament for lack of cash. Participation in Africa Club Cups has now become quite expensive and it is hoped the Football Association will assist clubs in this respect to halt the unsporting habit of clubs withdrawing for financial reasons.

From all indications, the self sponsorships by clubs has become a bother and it is time the FA returned to the old system of national sponsorship. This should be one of the priorities of the newly elected FA Executive that is happily dominated by owners of clubs.  Ghana football needs to move with the times.

Cheers everybody and keep loving sports.