Popular novelist, Chimamanda Adichie, has revealed that she once had a mild crush on former Ghanaian and Chelsea footballer, Michael Essien.
The mother of one made the revelation in the introduction she wrote for a picture book, Africa― The Future of Football, which is authored by a photographer, Pall Stefansson.
Well, on recalling how Nigeria was absent at a football tournament the 42-year-old novelist watched in her introduction titled “Football Nationalism”, she stated that she became “Ghanaian” after the Ghanaian football team caught her attention.
She said,
“I watched the game with my best friend, Uju, often shouting and then hugging each other when Ghana finally beat the United States.
“You know some of our boys started playing this game without shoes’, Uju said. ‘Our boys’ were, of course, the Ghanaians.
“A small consequence of that game was my developing a mild crush on the Ghanaian player, Michael Essien, as much for his looks as for his dexterity.
“But the larger and more important consequence was my realisation that sports allowed us, black Africans, to address historical and political grievances in the most cathartic way.”
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