I wanted to be a Police officer, not a footballer – John Paintsil

John Paintsil might have made his name as one of Ghana’s best fullbacks in history but playing professional football was not part of his early career plans.

Paintsil grew up nursing a career in the Ghana Police Service where his father also served.

For a young Paintsil, walking in his dad’s path was the ultimate goal and he was not going to sacrifice it.

Paintsil enjoyed playing football at his early stages but thoughts of wearing the national colours never occurred to him.

He saw himself wearing the blue-black uniform of the Ghana Police Service but as fate will have it Paintsil did not only turn out as a footballer but a successful at one that.

”I’ve always admired police officers because my father was a police officer,” he said on Citi TV.

”I was only playing football because I enjoyed it, but what I really wanted to do was to join the police service.

”Growing up, I was only waiting to finish with my secondary education and join the police service, but then football came calling.”

He played in two World Cups and had a career that saw him play in England, Israel, South Africa, among others.

Overall, Paintsil played 89 games for Ghana as right back.