Soulama: It’s my worst nightmare
Accra Hearts of Oak goalkeeper, Abdoulaye Soulama, has described his gaffe in last Monday’s league game against Kumasi Asante Kotoko as the worst nightmare in his career which he wished to quickly overcome.
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In a rather sober and remorseful tone, the Burkinabe import said it was the saddest day of his life and that he could not sleep all night because he was haunted by the mistake as it kept revisiting him throughout the night.
“Right now I don’t have tears to cry; I couldn’t sleep last night because I kept thinking about it,” a disappointed Soulama said during an interview with Happy FM on Tuesday and hoped to bounce back strongly.
The Hearts of Oak shot stopper gave Kotoko the only goal of their epic clash at the Accra Sports Stadium last Monday after his poor clearance from a back pass saw the ball roll into the net.
To make matters worse, the former Kotoko goalkeeper was sent off by referee Mohammed Awal following a bad tackle on Kotoko’s Dauda Mohammed.
Despite Soulama’s predicament, however, Coach Kenichi Yatsuhashi, has reposed confidence in the goalie as he posted on Facebook that ‘Soulama is a great goalkeeper, I still trust him’.
Ashantigold goalkeeper, Fatau Dauda, described the incident as unfortunate in a message posted on his Twitter page but believed Soulama “used the right technique” to clear the ball.
Tears flowed down the cheeks of the giant ex-military officer after the blunder, but the Burkinabe, who is in his second season with Hearts, said he broke down because he felt he had let his team and the fans down.
“I wept because of the affection I have for the fans and during half time the team promised to fight for me,” he said.
He said he was glad about the numerous calls he had so far received from club officials and fans to encourage him.
Touching on whether he was bribed by the opposing team as was alleged by some fans, the 34-year-old goalkeeper said he switched camp from the Porcupine Warriors due to similar allegations, stating that his conscience would not even allow him to do such a thing.