Anthony Baffoe: Dad’s death fast-tracked my football career

African legend and CAF Deputy General Secretary (Football & Development), Anthony Baffoe, shares his heartening humble beginning that should serve as a model for aspiring African footballers in this tête-à-tête with MORAKINYO ABODUNRIN.

Former Ghana international Anthony Baffoe epitomises everything desirable in a sporting icon so much so that after his successful football career, he remains relevant in the scheme of African and global football things many years after he hung his playing shoes.

Usually referenced ‘as the son of a Ghanaian diplomat’ and the ‘much-travelled footballer who played for clubs on four different continents’, Baffoe has yet explained his modest beginning while eking out a living right from his amateur days.  

“I always had interest in playing football (and basketball),” Baffoe, who was named CAF Deputy General Secretary in-charge of Football and Development  a year ago, responded to The Nation through electronic mail. “My father died when I was 15 and it (playing football) was the fastest way to make money and to take care of the family after my A levels.”

Now 53,Baffoe was born in Bad Godesberg – a municipal district which used to house most foreign embassies when Bonn was the capital of the old West Germany.

Despite his urbane background, Baffoe’s soccer career did not start at the Alpha level as he had to learn the ropes from the start. “It was a very tough beginning, especially being one of the few blacks playing in Germany. But if there is one thing I admire about the Germans, it is punctuality, disciplined work ethics, attention to details and the never-give-up spirit.”

Baffoe indeed imbibed the letters and spirit of the Teutonic lifestyle right from his childhood days at FC Ringsdorff-Godesberg, an amateur side where he must have made much a huge impression to be so regarded as one of the team’s outstanding personalities till date.

“FC Ringsdorff Godesberg is my childhood club. I played with a half Senegalese-German; an Italian and half German-Moroccan,I had a great experience,” Baffoe said  of his early start.

After some six years  as an apprentice at Ringsdorff Godesberg, he was off to 1. FC Köln(FC Cologne) where he earned his first professional contract enroute to stints at Rot-Weiß Oberhausen and Stuttgarter Kickers. But it was at Fortuna Köln and Fortuna Düsseldorf that the career of Baffoe blossomed as he elicited hugefollowership in the German Bundesliga.

He said about his time at various clubs: “FC Cologne, my first professional club with great players who were very inspiring; Fortuna Dusseldorf , the club that made me become known in the Bundesliga and Metz, a club I adore till date who had a fantastic president then with Carlo Molinari.”

It was while at Fortuna Dusseldorf that Baffoe was drafted into Ghana national team then under German coach Otto Pfister and he earned the distinction as the first ‘expatriate’ Ghanaian to play for the Black Stars.

“He(Baffoe) was a good player for Düsseldorf then,” former Nigerian International, Jonathan Akpoborie who equally made his mark playing for oodles of German clubs including Bundesliga side,Hansa Rostock, VfB Stuttgart and Vfl Wolfsburg , confirmed to The Nation.

Without much ado, Baffoe would soon become a strong fulcrum of the West African side and made 25 appearances for the Black Stars between 1991 and 1999.

“It (being one of the first set of Ghanaian players to play abroad) shaped me, made me strong psychologically because I was part of the minority,” Baffoe further explained. “I was also the first Ghanaian to be born abroad and to play for Ghana.”

At the Senegal ’92 AFCON, Baffoe was imperious in the midfield for the Black Stars and he recalled with nostalgia his side’s semi-final win over Nigeria as well as that unforgettable final match against Cote d’Ivoire. He had the singular honour of wearing the captain’s band in that finale decided through a marathon penalty shootout that agonisingly went in favour of the Elephants after both teams had  played out a pulsating goalless even after extra time.

“Nigeria was a fantastic team in ’92-led by one of my idols, the late Stephen Keshi, and playing against Nigeria always meant to be 100 percent focused,” Baffoe said of the dramatic semi-final encounter where Ghana clawed back from a 1-0 deficit to win 2-1.

Yet the final match against Cote d’Ivoire would forever be in the memory of Baffoe for obvious reason: “Losing against Cote D’Ivoire was very sad, especially going through extra time and me missing the second penalty after scoring in the first round of penalties, but that’s life; it was not meant to be. God’s time is always the best; it was a fantastic experience and my first AFCON.”

Meanwhile, after stint with Venezuelan top side, Caracas Futbol Club, Baffoe retired from the game that gave him so much fame but opted out of coaching unlike many of his peers.

An online bibliography cited: “After his playing career, Baffoe used his broad popularity to set up and front a new TV magazine show devoted to youth football. He was successful on German television in various sport programmes and is the regular host of Viasat -One’s UEFA Champions League show in Ghana. After a few years, the former defensive utility man evolved into a well-known representative of the African continent and his home country of Ghana.”

Responding to The Nation about his larger-than-life image, Baffoe stated matter-of-factly: “My outlooks is determined by what I decide to wear. I make the clothes; the clothes don’t make.

“My heart is 100 percent African; my work ethics are German-punctuality-commitment -dedication -self-respect and straight to the point.”

Such singlemindedness and fixity of purpose has helped Baffoe’s devotion to the development of African football. At various times, Baffoe has held some key appointments including Director for International Relations for the Ghana national football team and founder and General Secretary of the Professional Footballers Association of Ghana. He was also a FIFA Ambassador for campaign against racism, FIFA ambassador for SOS Children’s Village, an ambassador for Play Soccer Ghana and member of the Bundesliga Legends Network.

“I was always interested in management and organisation,” Baffoe further told The Nation about his well-planned life after his football career. “I coordinated many events before I became the Deputy General Secretary in charge of Football & Development (at CAF).

“Coaching never came in to my mind though I am a holder of the highest African licence.

“I read a lot of books about successful CEOs and top managers and also about Wole Soyinka, Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Ghandi, Steve Biko etc. .It shaped my way of thinking and what I wanted to do with my life after football.”

Of course, there is life outside family for Baffoe, and from his responses it  is easy to decipher  that he’s a devoted family man despite the fact that he’s  truly a citizen of the world with mastery of several international languages.

“My future dreams are all focused on my family; that my mum stays healthy, that my wife and kids have long life,” he said about his family. “I met my wife (veteran Ghanaian thespian Kalsoum Sinare Baffoe) in 1992, we have been married since 1994 – 24 years.

“She is my pillar, my backbone, my best friend, a woman with character and a very big heart for children and people in general.

“My kids are Shaquille, Boukeem and Keisheira. My first born studies Marketing& Communication at the university and plays football. My second born studies Computer Science at the university and plays basketball and my last born goes to International School in Accra, she is 10.”

Yet Baffoe recalls his childhood years as if it were today.

“My best childhood memories? Playing with all kind of kids from different diverse backgrounds,” he volunteered. “What can make me laugh and cry? Children and when human beings are maltreated. Movies like back in the day Roots (The saga of an American family) by Alex Haley.”

As with life, that whatever goes round comes around and we are back from where we started: football, and Baffoe shares his thoughts about African football post the FIFA World Cup Russia 2018 as well as his rule of thumbs for budding African stars.

“African Football has a lot of potential and talent,” he said. “At the WC 2018 in Russia, for the first time, there were no issues about money and indiscipline – now we need to fine-tune the details.

And his final words for African young stars: “To study and play football and they should always remind themselves that tomorrow it can be over. There is no elevator to success you – you have to take the stairs.”