Former Hearts of Oak striker Abednego Tetteh has recounted how he agonizingly lost his place in Ghana’s World Cup-winning U-20 squad to Dominic Adiyiah.
The striker shared that he lost his spot to the former Black Stars forward due to a failed move to Heart of Lions.
According to him, he was on the verge of joining the Kpando-based side when he received a call-up to the U-20 team.
“They (Heart of Lions) started negotiating with my team after two games. They initially wanted me on loan. I was asleep, and when I woke up, I heard on the radio that I had been called up to the U-20 team. My manager called me, informed me about it, and told me to prepare,” he told Linus Nartey TV on YouTube.
He said the negotiations dragged on as the club wanted the deal completed before he joined camp but his agent opted against it.
“A few minutes later, Lions also called me to come to their office at Achimota, but my manager told me not to go because they had some discussions to finalize. It was back and forth because Lions wanted to sign me before I left for camp, but my manager wanted me to go for camping and sign on my return,” he continued.
He continued that the transfer eventually hit a snag, resulting in him being dropped from the squad.
“Silas Tetteh made his selection, and I was his number 9 for the trip to Togo. On the eve of the trip, I received a call from Coach Wellington, who told me to go home because Lions couldn’t complete the deal. I asked him, ‘Am I not a Ghanaian?’ and he responded that the team that brought me couldn’t register me, so I should leave. Then, they replaced me with Adiyiah,” he added.
After replacing Abednego Tetteh, Adiyiah led the Black Satellites to victory in both the African Youth Championship and the FIFA U-20 World Cup.
Adiyiah’s phenomenal showing at the World Cup earned him a transfer move to Italian giants AC Milan.
Abednego Tetteh, on the other hand, had to wait until 2016 to have a breakout season with Bechem United, leading them to win the MTN FA Cup.
Since then, he has played for notable clubs like Al-Hilal Omdurman and Hearts of Oak. He is currently unattached after departing Bibiani Gold Stars in 2023.
@linus_siaw First interview in 2025 🙏🏿 Heart of Lions forward & 2022/23 Ghana Premier League topscorer, Abednego Tetteh was our guest. Enjoy this excerpt from the full interview which drops on Wednesday. Keep subscribing to our channel, follow and like our Facebook and IG pages. Link to the channel 👇🏿 https://youtube.com/@linusnarteytv?si=fJ3SWuuJ9bAPts8E
EE/EK
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