Opoku Ware SHS honours Kwesi Appiah

Ghana head coach Kwesi Appiah has been honoured by Opoku Ware Old Boys Association for his tremendous contribution to the development of football in Ghana, both as a player and as a coach.

Kwasi was given the award of Akatakyie Brand Ambassador for his contribution to Ghana Football during the Akatakyie Ball 2017 which took place at the Cove Event Centre at Nhyiaeso in Kumasi.

The Ball, held on Saturday, Dec 2, 2017 saw old boys of Opoku Ware School from all walks of life gathering for the dinner and awards night.

The Black Stars Coach himself an old boy and bears the school number O123 was commended for his great exploits as a sports man during his school days for St Mark House and later St. Andrew House and the entire Opoku Ware School from 1974 to 1979.

His outstanding record of being the first Ghanaian and African to have qualified Ghana for the FIFA World Cup in 2014 was the most outstanding achievement mentioned.

Kwasi was also praised for leading the senior national team Black Stars as a captain between the late 1980s and early 90s.

He is also credited for his great and successful leadership for Kumasi Asante Kotoko when he was the captain.

In a citation read for the enterprising coach, Kwasi Appiah was showered with praises and unforgettable memories were recalled.

The citation read:

“Your passion and talent for sports began at an early age, and at Opoku Ware School, you were a legend in your own right, representing your house, St. Mark, in football, hockey and athletics. Ultimately you featured in the school football team. Though you were blessed with football talent, you have in all modesty always credited the late Coach E.K Afranie for spotting that talent and helping you nurture it.

“After school, under the guidance of Coach Afranie, you joined Prestea Mine Stars Football Club, a team he coached. From there, you earned a place in the national Under-23 team, the Black Meteors. Like a true meteor, you shot through the skies of Ghana football with dazzling speed.

“From Prestea Mine Stars, you joined Kumasi Asante Kotoko Football Club, again under the tutelage of Coach Afranie, who had moved there. Coach Afranie once described you as the ’silent terminator’, when you are on the field. How right he was.

“Between 1972 and 1992, you represented your country at the highest level of football, playing for the Black Stars. You featured as a captain and received technical training from English football clubs Manchester United and Liverpool FC.

“You served as the assistant national coach between 2007 and 2012 and you were appointed the Head Coach of the national team in April 2012. Under your leadership, Ghana qualified for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, making you the first Ghanaian to take the country to the world event. After a brief stint with the Sudanese Club Al Khartoum, you are back in the saddle as Ghana’s Head Coach of the National Football team, the Black Stars.

“Katakyie Mayele, you have always been an excellent ambassador for the OWASS brand. You are the ultimate representation of what it is to be a true gentleman in a sport that is passionate, boisterous and vigorous. Yet throughout the rough and tumble of it all, even in the face of provocative, vitriolic commentary, you have never lost your cool.

“We continue to celebrate you and wish you the very best in your current role. We are confident that you will make Ghana proud, so that we may share in the adulation and proclaim with a loud voice that “Yes, Mayele is a Katakyie!!”

May God continue to bless you.”