Brazilian midfielder, Fabio Gama signed for Asante Kotoko in the summer of 2020 as one of Ghana’s high-profile transfers, alongside Asamoah Gyan’s move to Legon Cities.
The midfielder joined the Porcupine Warriors as a free agent, with his last association to a club coming in March 2020 with Sweden’s Jonkopings Sodra.
Prior to his arrival, the Ghana Premier League was not new to Brazilians, with Kotoko leading the way with Brazilian player acquisitions. Meaning Gama was not entering the perimeter of any unfamiliar territory.
Unfortunately for him however, Brazilians who paved the way had no grip on Ghana football, and failed to impress. Their track record failed to protect the midfielder from rival fans and the media, especially as they were armed with the knowledge that the midfielder had not played active football for seven months.
He was torn into way before kicking a ball for Kotoko later on in the season. Gama made his debut in a 1–1 draw with Medeama.
Inadvertently, the criticism filtered through to the Brazilian and in an exclusive with Joy Sports, the midfielder revealed that despite being welcomed largely by hostility, it was in the unfair criticisms that he found a reason to die for the Kotoko badge.
“Since Kotoko first announced my name, I started to hear this. But as I said before, I tried to do my best to prove that they are wrong about me and in the final I was right. The feelings in the beginning is bad because they don’t know and they start to speak bad things about you. So you start to think, “How can they do this?”
“But when I heard it the first time, I start to give all my heart for Kotoko and prove that they are wrong because I came and I can improve myself, and this was very important for me so all the haters they give me more strength to make my way easy. At the same time this makes me strong,” the Kotoko midfielder said.
Gama spent two years in Sweden before becoming a free agent and securing a move to Kotoko. He indicated that the time at Sweden served as a learning curve, and supported his adaptation in Ghana.
“I was in Sweden for two years so it was a good time. I learnt a lot in Sweden, like football tactics, how to understand the game. These were very important for me and when I came to Ghana it was easier to adapt to Ghana football. I played as a midfielder [in Sweden] like I did with Mariano [Barreto] here – I played as a midfielder on the right side, the same position. Sometimes as a number 10 as well,” Gama said.
MyJoyOnline
