Ex-Hearts of Oak striker opens up on why he turned down a Black Stars call-up

Former Hearts of Oak striker Wisdom Abbey has revealed that he turned down a call-up to the Black Stars due to the galaxy of stars in the team.

According to Abbey, he was called up to the national team at a time the team boasted of some star players such as Anthony Yeboah, Abedi Pele, Yaw Preko among others thus he didn’t see himself getting a chance to play for the team. Hence his decision to reject the call-up.

Abbey made mention of this in an interview on Happy FM’s ‘Where Are They’ program with Ohene-Bampoe Brenya on Happy 98.9FM, “When I was invited to the Black Stars I decided not to go because of the players there, with Abedi Pele, Tony Yeboah. I got that call up after the FIFA U-17 World Cup in 1997.

“Coach Addy came to pick me from AshGold camp and I joined the team. I even scored a goal in that friendly game for the Black Stars”.

Abbey also shared some experiences with his time at Accra Hearts of Oak.

“To play Hearts you must have a strong mentality and also be ready to endure, be everything that will be thrown at you. You need to have the courage and be strong too. During our time we played with our heart but now the players are more focused on the money aspect.

“I was disappointed not to have played in the Confederation Cup final due to injury. I support Hearts of Oak but we don’t go near the team again

He stated that if Hearts want to go back to their glory days they must revisit their old ways.

“Hearts should continue with the tradition if they want to win games”.

Abbey advised young footballers to be humble, work harder and venture into a lot of investment schemes to secure their future when they retire.