Posted by Former Ghana and Asante Kotoko midfielder Yusif Chibsah has showered approbation on Abedi Pele and also bemoaned the lack of recognition given to African players.
The 1993 Uefa Champions league winner is widely regarded as one of Africa’s greatest players. In spite of that, Yusif Chibsah believes that Abedi Pele’s status as an African didn’t earn him the recognition he deserved globally.
Chibsah reckoned that Abedi deserves to be mentioned in the same sentence with two players arguably regarded as the best players football has ever seen, Messi and Ronaldo. Chibsah also added that Abedi is technically better than the duo.
“He was just the best. Even on bad days for the national team, he could carry the team on his shoulders alone and that tells you the kind of player he is. If you want to see the best of Abedi, watch his game in France. If you look at what Messi, Ronaldo and co are doing, Abedi did them in the best ways”, Chibsah told GhanaWeb.
“I will say that technically he’s more gifted than Messi and Ronaldo. It’s unfortunate that we Africans don’t get global recognition. If Abedi was to be a European, he would have gotten to the stage of being the world best player. We’ve had Oppong Weah who won the world best player in his days with AC Milan but trust me Abedi was on top”, he concluded.
Abedi Pele won 3 African best award (1991, 1992, 1993), he also won the Uefa Champions league in 1993 with Marseille.
Pele featured in 73 games for Ghana, scoring 33 goals and winning the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) in 1982.