By Andrew Lord
17 June 2022
When 17-year-old Ibrahim Tanko burst onto the scene with Borussia Dortmund in 1994, many thought he had the potential to surpass the success enjoyed by previous big-name Ghanaian players in the Bundesliga. But the meteoric rise and dramatic fall of Tanko ultimately led to a debate about African players moving to European countries at such a young age.
The German documentary “Der Grosse Traum” (The Big Dream), which is currently available on Netflix, is directed by Timo Joh. Mayer and produced by Little Brother Films. The film details the challenges faced by talented young African players in the professional European leagues and highlights the experience of Ibrahim Tanko, one of the biggest African prospects to grace the Bundesliga.
Big name Ghanaians in the Bundesliga
There is a rich history of Ghanaian players in the Bundesliga. There is Abedi Ayew, more popularly known as Abedi Pele, who won the Champions League with Marseille in 1993 and played for 1860 Munich. Tony Yeboah, who moved to FC Saarbrücken from Okwawu United, before joining Eintracht Frankfurt, where he was twice top scorer in the Bundesliga, and later played for Leeds United and Hamburg. Other notable Ghanaians who have plied their trade in Germany include Samuel Kuffour, who won the Bundesliga six times with Bayern Munich, Hans Sarpei, Baba Rahman and Berlin-born Kevin-Prince Boateng, who currently plays for Hertha Berlin.
Tanko was just 17-years-old when he joined Borussia Dortmund from King Faisal Football Club in 1994. In an interview with Angel FM, reported by GhanaWeb, Tanko explained that he was at secondary school when he was contacted by Dortmund: “The club wanted a young striker from Africa after signing Mallam Yahaya and Alhaji Grusah told them that they can come for me. I stopped school to focus on my career because it was a good opportunity for me.”
The Ghanaian got off to an impressive start at Dortmund, making his debut in a 5-0 win over VfB Stuttgart in 1994. He played 14 Bundesliga games in his first season at the club. But while Tanko formed the ‘Baby-Sturm’ or baby attack with 18-year-old Lars Ricken, he was never able to fulfil his full potential despite being viewed as one of the biggest talents in German football.
Struggling to adapt
Tanko lived with a host family when he first came to Germany and struggled to adapt to the German culture. Maintaining contact with his parents was particularly hard in the days before widespread mobile phone and internet use. It was made even more difficult as his parents did not have a telephone line in their home, so any calls had to be arranged in advance.
Nevertheless, Tanko won two Bundesliga titles with the club in 1995 and 1996. He also received a winner’s medal when Borussia Dortmund won the Champions League against Juventus in 1997 and, although he did not play in the final, he did feature in the earlier rounds of the competition.
The Ghanaian also struggled with injury problems, possibly dating back to a Champions League game against Steaua Bucharest in 1995, when he elected to play despite metatarsal pain. It transpired that the pain stemmed from a fatigue fracture, a chronic injury which continued to plague the striker for years to come.
A positive drug test
On 29 November 2000, after a German Cup game against Schalke 04, Tanko tested positive for Tetrahydrocannabinol. In January 2001, he admitted to the DFB Sports Court that he had smoked marihuana at a wedding in the Netherlands four days before the game. He said he had taken several puffs of a joint out of curiosity and had not considered that one of the consequences of his actions would be a ban for doping. He said: “I regret my misconduct. It was a one-off and I would like to apologise for it.” He was banned for four months and fined 15,000 marks. He was sacked by Borussia Dortmund after eight years at the club and moved to SC Freiburg on a free transfer. SC Freiburg had already agreed to sign the Ghanaian before the ban was announced, so he had to wait to make his debut for the club.
Freiburg Trainer Volker Finke said: “We came to an agreement with Ibrahim Tanko before Christmas and even if the player has made a mistake, I see no reason not to look forward to working with him from next summer.” Finke added: “Recently, he hasn’t utilised his potential and I’m interested to find out why.”
In 2001, Tanko said of his move to Freiburg: “The transfer was a great opportunity for me to advance my career. I’ve rediscovered my love of football here. Freiburg is a small club, which is progressively getting bigger. Who knows what we can achieve with this team.”
Tanko played for the club until he retired from the game in 2007 at the age of 30. Following his retirement, Tanko became a coach, starting his career as head coach of the SC Freiburg youth team, followed by assistant coach positions at Urawa Red Diamonds in Japan, FC Cologne and the Cameroon national team where he joined ex-Freiburg trainer Volker Finke. In 2017, he became assistant coach of the Ghana national team and is now the Sporting Director of Ghanaian Premier League club Accra Lions.
Tanko recently offered to help Ghana prepare for the World Cup, which is to be held in Qatar later this year. The Black Stars face a tough group consisting of Portugal, South Korea and Uruguay. Ghana will be led by his ex-Dortmund teammate Otto Addo and the chances are high that Tanko’s proposal could be accepted. Tanko said: ”It’s difficult to say no to Ghana, so I am always available. I mostly speak to the technical team led by Otto Addo and everyone knows I played with him at Dortmund. I also started my coaching career with him, so Otto is a good friend and we always get in touch.”
A lack of care for young African players
There are many examples of African players being let down by agents and football clubs in Europe. Ahmed Yartey, manager of the U17 and U21 national players of Ghana, explains how he entrusted his younger brother Ishmael to a well-known football agent, who looks after the affairs of a number of big-name players in Europe. As the agent did not have time to concern himself with the young player, he simply placed him with a club and forgot about him.
Ghanaian football has various ways of developing young players. There are various football schools and operations such as the West African Football Academy Sporting Club (WAFA). Mohammed Alifoe, the owner of the FC Dreams football school, has produced a number of players who now play in the top European leagues, such as the aforementioned Baba Rahman, who played for Greuther Fürth, FC Augsburg and Schalke 04 in the Bundesliga, and is currently on loan to Reading from Chelsea.
WAFA, which is sponsored by Red Bull, follows the European concept of youth development. It boasts high-quality football pitches and utilises modern technology, but none of its players have yet made the transition to a top European league. While the FC Dreams football school invites agents from all over Ghana to watch its best players, WAFA deals directly with clubs and does not allow underage players to be sold to clubs in European leagues.
There are two schools of thought with regard to talented young African players being transferred to European clubs at a young age. The former manager of Hearts of Oak, Paa Kwasi Fabian, who is the current coach of the Ghana national U-23 team, points out that many agents are interested in players under the age of 17. They tempt the youngsters with big promises, which are attractive to players from poor families. But Fabian describes situations where players listen to the agents and fail to complete their professional training in Ghana, which leaves them ill-equipped to assert themselves at European clubs at the age of 16 or 17. He believes there should be a law to prevent agents taking players aged 14 or 15 from Ghana to Europe. Such a law would only allow players to be taken to Europe when they are 18.
The player advisor Ahmed Yartey has a different perspective. He attempts to get the players under his charge out of Ghana as soon as possible. Yartey is able to point to the success of Christian Atsu, who he sent to FC Porto at the age of 17.
But a big issue for Fabian is that young African players need to be protected from the many bad agents in the game. Former Borussia Dortmund midfielder Otto Addo points out that agents are a necessary evil in order to advise young players in their business dealings. Lilian Thuram, the Guadeloupe-born former Juventus and Barcelona defender who won the World Cup and European Championship with France, explains that it is easier for scouts to make money from the young African players they bring to Europe as life is much more difficult in Africa.
All of the African players agreed that it is essential to properly look after young talents when they move to Europe as the mixture of a culture shock and a lack of support can result in players struggling to adapt. Perhaps with a gentler introduction to the Bundesliga, Tanko would have been better placed to make the most of his obvious talent.
© Andrew Lord 2022
German Football 