The promising footballer even worked as a driver for the Manchester United goalkeeper.
Baba Sule knows firsthand that the career of any professional football player consists of ups and downs, and often very painful ones. The African football player became famous very early. In the 90s, the young hero of the World Cup was expected to have great success in Europe, but injuries put an end to the player’s stellar prospects.
Health problems forced Sule to leave the big sport and turn into a simple hard worker. But years later, fate brought him back to football: the former player was saved by the future goalkeeper of Manchester United.
The heartbreaking story of an African athlete.
career tragedy
Sule made a splash among the youth in the mid-90s when he won the Under-17 World Championship with the Ghana national team. In the final of the tournament, the African team defeated the Brazilian team, at the gates of which star Julio Cesar played. The match in Ecuador turned out to be bright: Ghana won 3:2, and the first goal in that meeting was scored by midfielder Baba.
After a stunning result, he was noticed in Spain. The triumph at the Youth World Cup allowed Sula to sign a contract with Mallorca in 1996. But the joy of the transfer was short-lived. It was here that his career took an unfortunate turn.
Baba’s time on the island was accompanied by illness. The Ghana was diagnosed with hepatitis: the treatment took a lot of time and effort, and as a result, in the Mallorca shirt, he entered the field only three times. In 1997, Soule nevertheless rallied and even managed to play for the Ghana national team under 20, but his contract with the island club had already come to an end by that time.
Baba tried to revive his career in another Spanish club from the lower league – “Ourense”. In two years he played 44 matches and scored one goal. Not too bright statistics, but still better than in Mallorca.
Then Soule moved to Leganes, and here a new black streak began in his life, which dragged on for a long time. Baba tore his ligaments in his first game for the Leganes, and after recovering almost immediately received a serious knee injury. The result is a pathetic 7 matches in five years.
Got a job as a driver for young David De Gea
Until 2008, Soule wandered around unknown Spanish teams like San Isidro and Rayo Majadahonda and was eventually forced to return to his homeland. There he ended his career in 2011. True, Baba was very used to Spain, and therefore decided to leave Africa again. Especially since I already had a Spanish passport in my pocket.
In Europe, however, Soule could not get anywhere for a long time. The world champion survived on part-time jobs, which he often turns to today: in Spain, he even had to master the profession of an electrician. For a while, the Ghanaian worked as a simple seller … However, in the end, fate brought him back to football.
Soule found his first permanent job … at Atlético:
“I had the same agent as De Gea. And one day after I hung up my boots, he called me and asked if I was interested in working with David, who was then playing for the second team of Atlético Madrid. He asked if I wanted to become his driver, because De Gea was then 17 years old, and since he lived next to me, and I did nothing, I decided to take this opportunity, – quotes Soule Goal with reference to AFHQ.
Baba said that the time spent with the talented Spanish goalkeeper was fun and productive. Sule not only drove De Gea, but also helped him with English: in Ghana, he is the state language. Perhaps it was thanks to the African that David then settled in the UK so quickly – they say that a slight Ghanaian accent is still noticeable in the goalkeeper’s speech.
The paths of Soule and De Gea, however, then diverged. When the Spaniard left to conquer England, his former driver went to a simpler football club – to Fuenlabrada. The team from the city of the same name near Madrid has never played in the Example: three years ago, she made a historic breakthrough, getting a place in the second division of Spain. Soule, however, relates only indirectly to this success of the team. Now the 43-year-old Ghanaian helps local football players with equipment: he carries balls and cleans boots.
