Faith, hope, prayer. Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu is not a religious pastor but a professional footballer and one who has had a decent path.
He has been severely tested by some negative events destined to indelibly mark its existence. The midfielder, back in good health after a massive scare, recently returned to the pitch. He has found the strength at Hellas Verona, that indescribable sensation of returning to breathe the scent of the grass before the Coronavirus broke into our lives and paused his race towards full recovery.
That failure, last farewell Nothing compared to the pain caused by the tragic disappearance of his sister Hagar, murdered in Berekum (Ghana), city of origin of the 1990 class. In fact, footballers from the African continent, despite the possibility of moving to Europe and the consequent return in terms of notoriety and economic well-being, they usually continue to live far away from families who often decide not to follow their loved ones in their work. As has happened several times in the past, these become the subject of the dangerous attentions of local gangs devoted to kidnappings or even worse to brutal assassins following robbery attempts.
In 2012 Christian Obodo was kidnapped, only to be able to break free within 48 hours. An episode that greatly shocked the public opinion of the time, highlighting one of the problems that most afflicted African footballers: their safety and that of their family members. Last March 20, it was Badu's turn to mourn the death of his sister, when the restrictive measures wanted by the Government to contain the spread of the epidemic had already taken place in Italy. It was no small detail that did not allow him to return to Ghana to participate in the funeral, while our country had the first thousand deaths who were not granted the last farewell. Two sides of the same sad medal.
Badu, heart, and lungs Hellas Verona had bet on a player who appeared a bit on the decline after the positive seasons played with Udinese, interspersed with the experience in Turkey with Bursaspor. The repeated injuries to his knee had deprived Badu of the physicality and explosiveness that were peculiar characteristics of his game, but certainly not of the character strength to react to the negative moments that in the career of a footballer are obviously to be put in the budget.
In Friuli they had greeted him by granting him the catwalk of honor with the captain's armband in the last successful game of the last championship before in Veneto they learned to appreciate his human qualities since the summer retreat. Warrior spirit and lungs of steel. The same put to the test by a serious embolism that had risked sinking him forever if it had not been for the prompt intervention of the doctors.
"2019 and 2020 were the most difficult years of my life. In August I almost died, I had many injuries and then I lost my sister in such a painful way "- he declared in an interview granted to the BBC - showing a stunning lucidity in the eyes of ordinary people. It is all too easy to say that from the history of Badu we should be able to draw the necessary lessons to better face what awaits us in the coming months when even wearing a mask could represent an insurmountable problem.
In recent months marked by pain in which football has obviously been forced to do its part, a similar story must above all instill strength and hope in a future that today is more indecipherable than ever.
Source: Domenico Mancini