Referees were star strucked seeing Abedi Pele - Joe Addo

Former Black Stars defender Joe Addo has revealed the cult hero status teammate and captain Abedi Ayew Pele wielded during their time together at the Black Stars.

Addo and Ayew played together for quite some time for the Black Stars in the 90's.

According to the former Hearts of Oak defender there were occasions where referees were star strucked by the mere presence of Abedi Pele while others wanted to take pictures with him before matches.

He was skillful and a pure delight to watch with the ball at his feet as he dazzled in games for the Black Stars.

In an interview on Joy  Sports  on Saturday, Addo narrated an incident involving Gabonese players and referees.

“I remember in our match against Gabon, the Gabonese players came into the dressing room to take pictures with Abedi Pele. Even the referees wanted to take pictures with him. That was how great he was. He was graceful. He was always willing to take pictures but on the pitch he was always serious.”

Joe Addo reckons  that Abedi Pele immensely helped him a lot during his professional career.

“Abedi Pele helped me a lot as a professional. I went to study in school but I was happy that I came back to play professional football. Abedi really helped me in my professional career.”

As an 18 year old, the legendary Abedi Pele won his only Afcon trophy with Ghana in Libya 1982 before being crowned African best player three times.