Heart problems threaten to cut the career of Africa’s top footballer short, but he is determined to play again
SOCCER: Andrew Muchineripi
WHEN Nwankwo Kanu was voted African Footballer of the Year this week his emotions would have been unusually mixed for someone following in the footsteps of Liberian legend George Weah.
While the tall, slim 20-year-old Nigerian must have been thrilled to receive the ultimate accolade available to a footballer from the continent, the joy was tinged with more than a hint of sadness.
The bitter truth facing the man who once dreamt of becoming the best footballer in the world is that he may never play again. At an age when most South Africans have yet to experience senior football, his career may be over.
Kanu has had a heart defect since birth, but none of the medical tests he underwent revealed the life-threatening condition until he visited the Italian Institute of Sports Medicine in August.
For Kanu, whose younger brother plays professionally in Switzerland, it was just a routine examination, necessitated by his transfer from Dutch club Ajax to leading Italian side Inter Milan.
When the doctors discovered a problem that was so big and so obvious, they initially suspected faulty equipment. The tests were repeated 24 hours later. The results were the same.
Kanu, the rising star who had captained his country to Olympic glory in the United States, was facing the biggest challenge of his life. Italian heart specialists had declared him unfit to play.
At first the midfielder, who has already won more medals than most footballers can hope to amass in a lifetime, was stunned.
“I knew nothing about it. In all these years, nobody has said anything about it.”
The shock and disbelief left Nigerians speechless. Some blamed the heart condition on the mafia, reasoning that this was Italian revenge for an early elimination from the Olympic football tournament.
Others thought it was a cruel prank, saying that if there really was a problem, the medical staff at such a famous club as Ajax Amsterdam would surely have picked it up.
Wiser words came from those who noted that Nigeria had already buried two footballers, who collapsed while playing and died of cardiac arrest, and this was one “hat-trick” the country could do without.
In a land sharply divided along political lines, the vast, football-crazy West African nation united behind their young idol with President Sani Abacha taking the lead.
While spiritualists and witch doctors wanted to help, a decision was reached that Kanu would have surgery in the American city of Cleveland. The Nigerian went under the knife last week and initial reports offer hope, albiet slim.
Doctors opted to repair rather than replace the heart valve to maximise his chances of fulfilling his dream and becoming a football legend … an African Pele.
Now comes the agonising wait as Kanu will not know until March whether his future involves playing the game he cherishes so dearly. If optimism counts for anything, he cannot fail.
“I’m not finished,” Kanu insists. “No one knows what the future holds, but if you want to influence your future, you have to fight for what you believe in. I just want to get back on the pitch.”
After a typical African introduction to the game, kicking a makeshift ball on dusty, uneven streets, Kanu gave notice of his potential at 17 by joining Nigerian first division club Iwuanyanwu Nationale.
He won a championship medal with the club from the eastern town of Owerri in 1993, the same year that he helped Nigeria defeat Ghana in the first all-African final of the world junior championship.
Kanu was the second-highest scorer with five goals and his talents did not go unnoticed. Ajax, the Dutch club which specialises in developing raw young talent, took him to Europe.
Within six months the youngster, who sometimes appeared so awkward as his long arms and legs flew in all directions, was challenging for a first-team place with one of the mightiest teams on the continent.
>From then on the facts resemble fiction as Kanu helped his club win the Dutch title, the European Champions Cup, the European Super Cup and the World Club Championship. So much, so soon, for someone so young.
But the best had yet to come as Kanu was selected captain of the Nigerian Olympic squad which went to the United States against a traditional background of upheaval.
The Dutch coach had temporarily abandoned his charges … there were the inevitable pay disputes … no training ground had been booked in the United States.
Nigeria began their quest to become the first football gold medallists from Africa with a hard-fought lone-goal victory over Hungary. It was a shot from Kanu that separated the teams.
He did not score again until the last minute of the semi-final showdown with favourites Brazil. The goal brought the gladiators level at 3-3 and Kanu struck again in the fourth minute of extra time. It was truly a “golden goal”.
History will record that Nigeria came from behind twice in the final to defeat Argentina 3-2 and raise African football to a new status. Nigeria were on top of the world and Kanu felt like a king.
Not in his worst nightmare could he have imagined the shock that awaited him. However, he must be encouraged by the support of fellow professionals with Italian Gianluca Vialli suggesting Kanu succeed Weah as European Footballer of the Year.
The final word goes to his mother, the proud, rural woman who saw her son develop into a national hero. “With God everything is possible. In a situation like this it is best to seek divine intervention.”
ENDS