"I am a survivor, I will get through this"

– Osei Kufuor says after burying 15-month-old daughter
Bayern Munich Star defender has buried his 15-month-old daughter at a private funeral in his native Ghana. The little girl, named Godiva, drowned in a swimming pool at Kufuor’s plush residence at the exclusive East Legon residential area in Accra.

After the funeral, Kufuor remains an emotional wreck. He is yet to bury the devastation he felt when news of the little girl’s death was broken to him on phone.

Kufuor had spent the Christmas holidays with Godiva and her mother in Accra and had just returned to Munich that Friday evening (January 3) preparing for the second stage of the Bundesliga when he received the phone call from close friend and two-time Bundesliga goal-king Anthony Yeboah.

Tony Yeboah spent the best part of an hour on the phone chatting on about football and other matters, except the death of the little girl. But it was a message he had been tasked to deliver and Tony had no choice than to muster the courage to deliver it. He first asked Kufuor if he had heard word from the family back in Accra. Then Kufuor said “Yeah, I spoke to Godiva and her mum this morning and they are preparing for a trip to Kumasi to see other members of the family”. Then Tony had to say he had been tasked to say – “Sammy, Godiva is dead”.

Kufuor recalls how he first didn’t believe Tony Yeboah and the horror that gripped him when Tony insisted it was true. Between the period when Godiva died and when Tony delivered the news, there had been several calls to Kuffour’s Munich home but none could muster the courage to tell him the bad news. Just how the little girl drowned in the Bayern star’s swimming pool remains a mystery but there have been a few accounts from inmates of the house. Kuffour’s cousin, Nana Bonsu recalls the family getting ready for a trip to Kumasi, Kufuor’s hometown – some 280km north of Accra.

Kufuor’s wife Francesca and the other adults in the household were indoors doing the last minute packing, when Godiva slipped out unnoticed. Nana believes the little girl was attracted by balloons in the pool and fell in as she attempted to pick some of them up.

It’s a loss that has shattered Kuffour. As the casket carrying Godiva’s lifeless body was buried on January 6, Kuffour wept in a manner he has never done publicly since Bayern lost to Manchester United in the champions’ league final.

But the player is drawing on his deep religious beliefs as he attempts to come to terms with the tragedy. “God gives and he takes. I am grateful for whatever has happened. The Lord knows best," he said. "It's a calamity - my baby was such a lovely girl who always gave me joy and happiness," he added. "But I pray by the Grace of God I should be able to overcome it and face the future with renewed vigour and strength."

Sammy hopes to be back in the Bayern side by January 25 when the Bundesliga resumes. He says getting back to his best football form for Bayern would be the best tribute he can pay to the memory of Godiva.

It is, he says, the best way he can also thank the football world for the love and sympathy showed him in his greatest moment of loss.

“It took Uli Hoeness, Franz and the Bayern hierarchy less than fifteen minutes to agree that I should fly a chattered plane to Accra because there was no flight available until Saturday. It shows how much matters of my family means to them,” Kufuor said.

The Ghanaian football populace was equally supportive. The player’s mansion was always packed with well-wishers. Among them was former 1860 Munich player Abedi Pele with whom Kuffour has had a few public fall-outs. The key man during the mourning period though was Nii Odartey Lamptey who also experienced the agony of losing a child while trying to pick up his football career in Argentina. Odartey picked Kuffour up from the airport when the chartered plane brought him to Accra and it seems that as he stood by Kufuor’s side, Odartey offered the best encouragement he could give.

Even then, one could sense in conversations with Kuffour that he was struggling to come to terms with the death of Godiva. He told a friend: “Godiva was smiling at me when I went to the mortuary. She was lying between two grown ups. No! Godiva is not dead.” Then in another breadth he said: “I am strong, I will handle this. You know I’ve always been a fighter, a survivor. I will get through this”.