Hibs star Bamba tells of death threats in Africa

Published on Wednesday 10 February 2010 09:08

HIBS ace Sol Bamba today revealed how he lived under the threat of death as he starred in the Ivory Coast's ill-fated bid to win the African Cup of Nations in Angola.

Like everyone, Bamba was stunned to hear of the machine gun attack on the convoy carrying the Togo contingent, including Manchester City striker Emmanuel Adebayor, on the eve of the tournament, which left three dead. But his sorrow turned to genuine fear as he and his team-mates were warned they, too, were potential targets for the gunmen with Chelsea star Didier Drogba high on the list.

Today, speaking exclusively to the Evening News in his first interview since returning to Edinburgh, Bamba told how the Ivory Coast squad were placed under armed guard and warned it was too dangerous to leave their camp.

And he disclosed that The Elephants' star-studded squad, which also included the likes of the Toure brothers Kolo and Yaya, Chelsea forward Salomon Kalou and Didier Zakora, wanted to quit the tournament as the Togolese had done, only to be ordered to stay.

As he prepared for tonight's SPL clash with Aberdeen, the 25-year-old recalled: "We were all shocked and saddened by what happened to the people from Togo.

"We went to see them to give them our support but then we heard a lot of talk about the bad people in Angola were coming to see us, that they wanted to do something to Didier Drogba and other big names in the team.

"There were death threats so we had a meeting and said we wanted to go home. We all love football but we have family and we didn't want anything to happen to us. But the president of the Ivory Coast phoned and said no-one was going home, we were going to stay and play."

Although Bamba insisted he didn't want to use the sinister threats as an excuse for the Ivory Coast's shock exit at the hands of Algeria in the quarter-finals, he admitted it was hard to ignore what was going on off the pitch.

He said: "Security was heightened with armed guards and police which was understandable. But it meant we couldn't really go and enjoy the tournament as we might have liked. We weren't staying in a hotel as such, but a number of houses with three players in each.

"We trained at night which meant we weren't able to do much during the day but watch television. For example, our coach wanted to take us out to lunch or dinner but we were told if we went away from where we were staying then security would be difficult."

As a result, Bamba claimed, he and his team-mates found it hard to focus completely on their first match, a disappointing 0-0 draw with Burkina Faso, although they recovered to beat Ghana 3-1 and so move on to the quarter-finals only for the heartache of a 3-2 extra-time defeat to an Algerian side containing Rangers star Madjid Bougherra. "It was a massive disappointment for all of us. We were very frustrated because we had gone there wanting to win and we didn't manage to do that."

Even then, Bamba's troubles weren't over as it took him the best part of a week to travel back to Edinburgh, arriving in the Capital only hours before Hibs' SPL clash with St Mirren, a match he was desperate to play in having missed his club's games against Hearts, Dundee United, Hamilton, Celtic and the Scottish Cup tie with Irvine Meadow.

He explained: "It was a nightmare, unbelievable. We were meant to leave Angola on the Monday having lost the previous day. I don't know what happened but we were then told we couldn't leave until the Tuesday.

"We had a private plane coming for us, we went to the airport and saw it come in only to be told there was a problem with it. As a result we couldn't fly out to the Wednesday night. It's a four-hour flight to Abidjan from Angola, there's a three-hour time difference and, as a result, we arrived back in the Ivory Coast too late for me to catch my flight to Paris.

"There is only one flight a day from Abidjan to Paris, at night, so I left on the Friday evening, got into Charles De Gaulle Airport the next morning and arrived in Edinburgh at 9.30am.

"I just had time to go home, grab my stuff and report for the game. I sat down with John Hughes, he said he wanted me to play and asked if I was okay. I wanted to get back out in front of my own fans, to play for my club again and I said 'yes'. I think it was the right decision. Unfortunately I scored that own goal after only a few minutes but, as we won, it's all forgotten about now."

While he now admits he was drained both mentally and physically, Bamba insisted he's now refreshed after a week spent back in Paris with his family recharging his batteries.

He said: "I really appreciated the break the gaffer gave me. It was good to get back among my family as they'd also had a hard time following our exit from the African Cup, not just from the Ivory Coast community in Paris but from all the West African people living there.

"For example, with Senegal not being in the competition, they'd all been supporting us and everyone was very hard about our result."

Bamba admitted the pain of that shock exit was still with him, although he insisted it was time to move on and focus on ensuring a memorable finish to the season for Hibs and so maintain his claim for a place in the Ivory Coast squad for the summer's World Cup finals in South Africa.

He said: "I've managed to establish myself in my national team but the way to stay there is by playing well for Hibs, the way I have been over the past six months at Easter Road.

"The Ivory Coast players will be getting together next month when we'll sit down and talk about what happened in Angola, why we didn't perform as well as we could and the like. But I've returned delighted to find my team-mates have recaptured third place in the League and are now only two points behind Celtic. The manager told me when I left that we had a big squad and if I wasn't playing someone would come in and do well.

"That's a good thing and, from what I hear, Paul Hanlon has been doing very well in recent matches."

Hibs have won their last four games and aim to make it five with a hat-trick of victories over Aberdeen tonight, the previous two games between the sides having each ended 2-0 in the Edinburgh club's favour.

And Bamba admitted he was happy to discover Dons hitman Lee Miller, with whom he's enjoyed two physical encounters won't be around having sealed a 500,000 move to Middlesbrough in the January transfer window, insisting the absence of the former Hearts hitman will prove to be a big loss for Aberdeen.

Bamba does his bit for Haiti tragedy at East End Park

BIG-HEARTED Hibs star Sol Bamba today revealed why he turned up at East End Park ahead of Dunfermline's Active Nation Scottish Cup clash with Celtic to raise money for the victims of the Haitian earthquake, writes DAVID HARDIE.

Pars fans were stunned to see their former defender among those rattling collection cans outside the ground, the Easter Road ace having returned from a week's family leave in Paris only hours earlier.

Today the 25-year-old said: "I'd just got back to Scotland on Sunday morning but a friend of mine Jimmy Dodd, who works at the Vine Church in Dunfermline, had asked if I'd help.

"Jimmy had helped me enormously when I first came to Dunfermline, with English lessons and the like so it was a pleasure to give my time to such a worthy cause.

"It was a terrible tragedy in Haiti so to be able to help in this small way... I think a few Dunfermline fans had a double take to make sure it was me but I feel when you are in a position to help as a football player then you should do so.

"We raised some good money which was terrific."