Gladson Awako of Accra Hearts of Oak SC caused his own downfall and lost his position in the Black Stars squad for the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations tournament in Cameroon next year.
The brilliant and gifted playmaker caused his absence in the Ghana squad all by himself as he refused to join the Phobians in the CAF Champions League and Confederation campaign.
After he signed up for the Rainbow Boys from city and bitterest rivals, Accra Great Olympics FC, Awako’s Hearts move Was heavily stained with a lot of alleged spiritualism which caused his absence at the team’s training camp and official matches.
The 2009 FIFA U20 World Cup winner undoubtedly was one of the if not the best player on the local scene during his days at Olympics and would have easily made it to the AFCON after joining a bigger team where he could have excelled to make a case for himself.
Unfortunately, the alleged spiritualism kept him out of the game and made his chances of making it to the 33rd CAF Africa Cup of Nations slimmer by a day as he was not playing competitive football at club level.
Awako’s qualities as a footballer can’t be begrudged and automatically became the fans favorite at Hearts of Oak SC even at a time he had not kicked a ball in official matches for CAF Champions League Winners of 2000.
With the issues of the alleged spiritual problems excalating and the continues absence of the player at his new club, his chances which were higher ran down to zero as most football enthusiasts became fed-up with his growing situation.
One can easily say that the issue is the cause of his absence in the Black Stars team which paved way for the likes of David Abagna Sandan of Real Tamale United FC and Maxwell Abbey Quaye of Accra Great Olympics FC to be included in the Ghana AFCON Team for the tournament.
Gladson Awako had a double figures in terms of goals and assist in the 2020-21 Ghana Premier League season and was fans and most journalists Player-Of-The-Year though he lost the award to his current team mate Salifu Ibrahim which was a big surprise to many.
After all the brouhaha surrounding his move to Hearts, Awako finally joined the Big Oak Tree family and has been received by the club supporters and sympathisers with an open heart.
He showed his mettle and proved why the Phobians were keen to have him in the team as he scored the only goal for Hearts against Elmina Sharks FC on the road to power the Rainbow Boys to their first Ghana Premier League win of the 2021-22 season.
He has followed that up with some great performances in subsequent matches that is a little too late to earn him a place in the Black Stars AFCON squad as Milovan Rajevac is currently preparing his team for the tournament next month in Cameroon with Ghana playing Morocco on January 10 in their first game.
Whatever the issue may have been, Awako has been the losser as he lost the opportunity to don the famous Ghana Black Stars jersey in a competitive tournament for the first time in his career although he won both Africa and World Cup at youth level for the African giant.
