It was Christmas and it was not out of place for the atmosphere to be filled with clutter; loud music or children having fun with firecrackers.
Contributing to the clutter from his home out of Tema, Ghana was David Accam. Bare-chested and in a pair of fancy shorts, he cast a picture of a man happy to make thuds into the mortar with the pestle.
Whether it was enjoying the easy atmosphere back home or the prospect of “attacking†the Fufu he was pounding, Accam was just glad to be home.
That was in December 2013; it was his way to relax, following an impressive full season in Sweden; one which Accam would have considered successful, one filled with many firsts, yet one that filled him with hunger, the type that the Fufu could not satisfy, one he finds only on the football field.
But Accam was ready; after all he has been accustomed to challenges, since he started with the Right to Dream Academy back in Ghana.
Quick Rise:
Growing up in the Teshie-Nungua environs in Accra, it wasn’t out of place to see a huddle of children playing football on any surface; hard, soft or sandy. Children were happy to play, even bare footed.
That’s how Accam started out, playing primarily for fun until he was 14, when he was scouted to join the Right To Dream Academy in 2004.
It was at the academy that he honed his skills until he was awarded a scholarship to study at Hartpury College in the United Kingdom in 2008.
Primarily because of his status as a student, Accam was restricted to playing for lower leagues sides like Ledbury Town and Evesham United.
All of that would change when he spent a season at the Nike Football Academy in 2011/2012. He so impressed English manager Graham Potter, who took him along to Östersund in the Swedish lower tier.
Word of his flair and direct style got out and Swedish top flight side, Helsingborg, paid a record 2 million Swedish Krona for his services in August 2012.
He repaid that faith by scoring 13 goals in 30 games in his first full season in 2013. It was no surprise when Ghana coach, Kwesi Appiah, handed him his first call up in March 2013 against Sudan.
He may not have featured in that match, but the opportunity to mix with senior Black Stars players was worth the trip and more importantly his appetite for international games whetted.
Daring to Dream
While it has been his dream to return to the Black Stars fold, Accam has been quietly going about his business in the Swedish Allsvenskan. Accam’s rise in form couldn’t have come at a better time. The World Cup is just around the corner and Accam will have good reason to dream based on his smashing form this 2014 season.
In 12 league and cup games, he has hit 11 goals, but crucially, it’s not the stats that will excite many a Black Stars fan.
It’s his other qualities; his pace, direct play and ability to ghost past defenders that captures ones imagination. Though he plays primarily on the left wing, he can operate from the right as well and is also a viable option behind the lead striker where he can be a goal scoring threat.
It is these qualities that should put him in good stead for another call up. That he is stationed in the Swedish League which doesn’t attract a lot of attention, has not bode well for him, but Accam will be encouraged that another Right To Dream Academy graduate, Abdul Majeed Waris who first made a name in Sweden before becoming a hit with the Black Stars, will be the harbinger for his dream call.
It is that call and performance in a Black Stars shirt that will satisfy Accam, hopefully that football thud will be loudest on the biggest stage, at the World Cup, until then, David Accam has every right to dream.
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90 Minutes Newspaper