STEPHEN APPIAH'S 'WOES'

Stephen Leroy Appiah (born December 24, 1980) is a Ghanaian international football midfielder…. (Hmmm, that makes him 30). Those were my thoughts as I read that statement and I am sure those were your thoughts too. Ridiculous as that age sounds am sure he swears by it. Why will a grown man lie about his age?
It seems this is a trend that prevails in the football fraternity. So much so, that FIFA has introduced wrist MRI to determine the ages of players within certain age brackets. Football is a physically tasking game and there have been instances where players have dropped dead on the field of play. Tasking the body leads to injuries that an otherwise younger body can easily heal. The peak age for any footballer these days in pegged at 21-25 years, apply this to Stephen and we can say that he is in his twilight years.

In fact most African players are in their twilight years. Back to the question, why will a grown man lie about his age? Most African footballers come from poor and underprivileged communities and only get the opportunity to play professional football when they are in their early twenties. Their professional careers are therefore very short and in an effort to lengthen their careers they lie about their age.
So yes! Age is catching up with our captain and it’s in both our interests if he retires into a managerial role. He might be mentally fit for the world cup but is he physically fit. He might make it through the tournament but at what cost?
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