| THE SECOND HALF OF THE 1998/99 SEASON BEGINS |
| African Players Germany |
| Players with heart problems / The top Nigerian players watched week by week |
| This is a component of | AFRICAN PLAYERS TO WATCH IN GERMANY |
| by | THE SHOT THAT PASSED RIGHT THROUGH THE NET |
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| African players with heart problems | INDEX |
| A considerable number of African
players have had heart problems in the past few years. The number is conspiciously
high in relation to the European players playing in the German leagues.
Whether it is accidental, whether it is deceiving also because of the famous
Kanu case, or if there are reasons behind cannot be told. Anything
here only could be speculation. So here are only the known cases:
A couple of years ago the Nigerian midfielder Emmanuel Nwanegbo broke down on the field and died: he played for 3rd division ('Regionalliga') team SSV Reutlingen. Regionalliga officialy is a semi-professional league, but for many players at many clubs it means real professionalism. Players easily can earn 50000$ and more a year. Nwanegbo died of heart problems. Another case is Gerald Asamoah. Doctors diagnosted some irregularities with his heart and he was suspended from playing. He was not allowed to play any more matches until a doctor in the United States declared responsibe for that playing football would cause no higher risk for him. Gerald Asamoah is one of the most promising African talents in Germany and is wanted by both, Ghana (immediately) and Germany (on the long term) for their national teams. He plays for 2nd Bundesliga team Hannover 96 and is wanted by a number of Bundesliga clubs. You can also read in the African Players Archive that he was predicted a bright future before his troubles began. Edith Agoye is a case that seems to be a bit different. It was said it to have been an infection attacking the heart that caused a half year break for Agoye in the first half of the 1998/99 season. He did not make it back to the first team of RW Oberhausen (2nd Bundesliga) and does play now for Esperance de Tunis (Tunisia). The fourth case is a player that has been playing for several years in Germany. His name is Olivier Djappa from Cameroon. He is forward for Regionalliga side Borussia Fulda and is the key player of the team. Often watched by Bundesliga coaches he either did not impress them enough or it is true that the sensible player preferred to stay at Fulda where he was feeling to be treated much better than at RW Essen, where he played in Germany before. At Fulda he was a hero somehow and compared to Anthony Yeboah in his time at Eintracht Frankfurt. Until his faint revealed his heart problems. After monthlong breaks he took all the risks on himself and restarted playing after his club had approach real troubles of relegation danger. |
| New names | INDEX |
| 5 new promising names emerging in
the first half of the 1998/99 season (random list. incomplete):
Daniel Addo. Ghana. Defensive midfield at Fortuna Düsseldorf (2nd Bundesliga). One of the best rated players of the division and the most convincing on this list after some hard learning years. Gabriel Melkam. Nigeria. Defensive midfield at Wattenscheid 09 (2nd Bundesliga). Henry Nwosu. Nigeria. Forward at Eintracht Frankfurt (Bundesliga). Only a few minutes. Will need much more time. Daniel Thioune. Senegal. Forward at VfL Osanabrück (Regionalliga, 3rd level) Victor Agali. Nigeria. Forward at Hansa Rostock (Bundesliga). Not a regular yet. Will need more time. Even more valuable: 3 names that
confirmed their promising debut of last year:
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| © by | THE SHOT THAT PASSED RIGHT THROUGH THE NET |