Bayan Mahmud is a
Ghanaian footballer
whose trajectory has been special. A
boy whose will to endure has seen him
triumph against the odds.
The 18-year-old now trains with Boca
Juniors’ youth side and gets to watch
every single game of los Xeneizes every
single week. And it has come with its
perks, like personally meeting legends
such as Juan Roman Riquelme, Ariel
Ortega, Juan Sebastian Veron, Fernando
Gago and the great Diego Maradona.
Dream come true |
Mahmud could be first Ghanaian to
play for Boca Juniors
“One time, I saw Messi play live too,
against Venezuela. I was so happy! It's
incredible how I've met all these great
players,” Bayan tells Goal Ghana
during an interview.
“Especially with Riquelme (club captain
of Boca), there's this myth here that
he's very snobbish and hardly relates
with anyone. So everyone is quite
surprised how we get along so well. He
advises me a lot too.
“I'm very happy. Boca is one of the
biggest teams in the world. Playing in
Boca Juniors is a big deal here in
Argentina. I'm very happy and proud of
myself.”
You can't begrudge this talented
attacking midfielder-turned-right full
back for being this happy and fulfilled.
One can't possibly imagine what he
went through to be where he is. His
past. His difficult, but inspiring past.
Bayan was born in Accra, spending his
formative years in the modest suburb
of Awoshie. He moved with his family –
father (former footballer), mother
(housewife) and a senior brother one
and a half years older than him - to
Bawku, a town in the Northern region
of Ghana. It was there that his life took
a terrible twist.
The famous violent conflict between the
Mamprusi and Kusasi tribe led to the
killing of both his parents when he was
barely 11, in 2005.
“We had returned home one day only
to find them dead. My brother was the
one who saw everything,” he painfully
recalls. “I don't even know how to
properly explain it. I don't want to
remember it.” Tears well up in his eyes
as he recalls the ordeal.
At times I remember those days I lived on the streets
back in Cape Coast, hustling and suffering, and 'Oh God,
thank you so much'. It wasn't easy. I did all that to
survive.
- Bayan Mahmud
He and his brother had to live in an
orphanage. His life had changed
drastically, and he became desperate
to escape from the darkness of what
had happened to him. He began living
on the edge, looking for every
opportunity to flee the north. He
eventually got lucky in 2010, when a
cargo truck driver was kind enough to
give him a free ride to the Southern
part of Ghana - Cape Coast to be
precise.
He left his brother, Muntala Mahmud,
behind. He couldn't find him when
leaving. Little did he know that would
be the last time they would be in
contact in a long while.
Bayan was on a mission. He did not
know exactly where it would take him,
but he just wanted to go. To move far
away. To forget. Most importantly, he
had to escape. Escape from possibly
suffering a similar fate like that of his
parents.
“I just wanted to go, to escape. To flee.
I just wanted to go somewhere
different and new. I had to beg a lot of
people and ride on my luck. I knew I
had to survive.”
This drive resulted in him making
friends in Cape Coast, who helped him
get onto a ship as a stowaway. The risk
involved was not a prospect that
deterred him. He was scared of the
possible repercussions of being caught,
but he did not let his fear serve as an
obstacle in his quest to leave the
country.
“I did not even know where the ship
was going!” he remembers and forces a
laugh. “I was afraid because of that. It
was very dangerous. But I was
determined. I hid in the ship with the
hope of not being caught and
hopefully, it taking me to Europe. I
took some gari and water on board,
but it all got finished. I had heard
stories of how some people died on
board. I was scared. But I wanted to
survive, I knew I would."
The ship, contrary to Bayan's guess and
wish, was not heading to Europe. It was
headed for South America. Argentina.
He eventually did get caught - but by a
good samaritan. A crew member on
board saw him and was kind enough to
listen to his story and sympathise,
eventually providing him with food and
water and caring for him.
Lady luck had smiled on the young boy.
"He gave me everything," he says
gratefully. "I'm sad I never really saw
him again. He was a good man."
Bayan, with the assistance of the man,
hid successfully on the ship for three
weeks.
"I remember he asked me, 'Do you
know what you are doing; where you
are going? You don’t know anyone.
You're a small boy. How will you even
cope?' "
"I looked at him and said, 'So far as
God is everywhere I will survive'."
“The ship docked at a certain place. I
didn't know the place. But I got off,
wandered around and met a family who
offered to give me food. I slept at a
station for three days. I hardly spoke.
These kind people decided to put me
on a bus to Buenos Aires because they
wanted me to meet more blacks since
they couldn't relate to me," he
remembers.
"I was in luck. Getting off the bus, I
met two Senegalese people, one of who
spoke English, so they listened to my
story and sent me to the immigration. I
was then sent to a refugee shelter in
Flores."
NEW LIFE
At this point, he knew a brand new life
beckoned. A new beginning, a chance to
overpower his dark past with a bright
future. He began playing football in the
town square, and his unique talents
immediately shone.
It was beautifully poetic. It was almost
as if his life had been scripted
meticulously, with the script writer
knowing his football talent would
finally become a definition of his
potential and the avenue through which
his inspiring trajectory would reach
dizzying heights. He was discovered
playing football by an enthusiast,
Ruben Garcia, who was awed by what
he saw.
Garcia did not hesitate - he knew
potential and he saw it in its purist
form. He decided to send Bayan for
trials with Boca, and Bayan didn't
disappoint. "He's a very good man, and
his family - his wife and two daughters
- are like my family. I spend time with
them most of the time," he says.
Boca were impressed with his raw
quality and drive, and quickly took him
in. Bayan passed the trials and was
subsequently registered as a footballer
with Boca, entitling him to
accommodation in the club's facilities
at Casa Amarilla.
He's now on the books of the
Under-21s, awaiting a possible contract
and a chance to become the first
Ghanaian to play for one of the
continent's most successful teams.
He cites Andres Iniesta and Dani Alves
as his role models and like the duo he
has an incredible desire to be a
success.
Boca’s youth team staff have recently
praised his enormous talent, with head
coach and legend Carlos Bianchi also
impressed with his progress.
“I’ve met him several times and we've
talked a lot. He likes me so much,”
Bayan said of Bianchi, one of the most
successful coaches in the world with a
record four Copa Libertadores titles.
Amidst all the drastic change of
fortunes, Bayan missed his brother,
and always wondered where he was, or
what he could be doing, and how he
was faring. He finally tracked him
down, and had Mark Zuckerberg to
thank for it after finding his sibling on
Facebook.
“I miss him a lot. We have been
chatting thankfully. He’s also playing
football," he said. "I'm planning to
come to Ghana by the end of the year
to visit him, and my friends too."
Bayan’s story has made him a superstar
in Argentina. Many websites,
newspapers, magazines, radio and
television shows have featured him to
share his incredible journey of realising
his dreams against the odds. "A lot of
them," he says, smiling. "They all want
to talk to me. Even to a point when I
can hardly talk anymore."
And the girls can't get enough of him.
Bayan's Twitter and Facebook pages
have girls singing his praises and
always wanting him to interact. He has
got good looks and a good physique to
match his admirable story. He laughs
when I asked him.
"They do worry me a lot. I've even had
to stop using my facebook pages
because of that. But what can I do, I
have to take care of the situation,” he
laughs again.
Bayan has no girlfriend, because -
according to what he told Boca's
official programme some months back -
"it's now just football, football and
football.
"I know why I'm here. I know where
I'm coming from, how I got here. I
have to think about my future. I always
say to them, 'You people were born
here, you've always been. Your parents
are around. I have none of that'."
"If I say I want to concentrate on girls
I'll stop playing football. I have to be
very careful. You have to be serious
everyday here. Training is very
important and I have to give it the
maximum focus. They (Boca) don't joke
at all."
KEEPING EYES ON THE PRIZE
The sort of attention Bayan receives -
the TV coverage, radio presence,
magazine covers, social media fame,
autographs and girls can easily distort
his focus and hurt his ambition, and
also make him a target of envy too.
But he has his eyes firmly on the prize.
He wants to finally walk through the
tunnel of the iconic La Bombonera, to
wild cheers from 49,000 fans. He knows
that first team dream debut can only
come with hard work, focus and
prayers.
Bayan does not joke with his praying
time as a Muslim. He believes Allah saw
him through his ordeal, and has
granted him an opportunity to be
great.
He said: "I never miss my prayers. I
never joke with it because I know that
God is helping me.
Bayan has come a long way. From
orphaned street hustler to teenage
footballing sensation within the space
of eight years. He has met the right
people along the way, and has endured
remarkably. His experiences serve as a
guide to him in his quest to reach the
top.
“Life has not been easy for me,” he
reflects. “I’ve suffered a lot. I’ve been
there before. Now look at me, I might
not be okay, but my life has changed.
“At times I remember those days I lived
on the streets back in Cape Coast,
hustling and suffering, and think 'Oh
God, thank you so much'. It wasn't
easy. I did all that to survive. When I
got here too, within one year, I had
had all my documents sorted. It’s like
I'm living with luck. It follows me
everywhere I go. And I believe it's the
hand of God."
And then the big question. Ghana or
Argentina?
"Ghana," he says. "I want to play for
Ghana. Argentina has been good to me,
it has given me all of this. But Ghana is
my home, where I was born."
Bayan's parents will be proud of their
little boy wherever they are.
http://m.goal.com/x/en/news/4112873

odacity of hope

chriskwaku: odacity of hope

tht da spirit.