Dial Kuffour for goals (The Sunday Mail)

A 17-YEAR-OLD from Ghana is blasting a trail of goals in the FAM Cup
competition.
 Issac Kuffour, the hired gun of Malacca Telekom, hit 17 goals in 16
matches in his first season last year.
 Kuffor, who only turns 18 on Dec 30, is again in scorching form this
year, plundering 12 goals in seven matches so far.
 And last Monday, Kuffor scored his first hattrick in his team's 9-2 win
over Selangor Wilayah Maju.
 Surprisingly, none of the M-League teams have spotted this precocious
African talent though Kuffor has a desire to see M-League action.
 Kuffor ended up signing with Malacca Telekom when a groin injury stopped
him from making the final squad of the Ghana Junior World Cup squad.
 He had come here with the Ghanaian team to train for the Junior World
Cup which was hosted by Ma-laysia last year. The team's training stint
were sponsored by Telekom Ma-laysia.
 Kuffour was among the Ghanaian squad of 25 players, of whom seven were
professionals based in Europe. The average-built striker, who stands at
1.78m and weighs 68kg, succumbed to injuries after the team's earlier
stints in Germany and Korea.
 By the time Kuffor recovered, the final Ghanaian team for the Junior
World Cup had already been named. Team doctors then advised him to rest
for a month before playing competitively again.
 The team officials from Malacca Telekom were impressed with Kuffour's
skills after watching him in training and invited  him to play for their
team against the Ghanaian youth team in a friendly at KLFA Stadium.
 After the game, Malacca Telekom wasted no time in signing Kuffor, the
youngest in a family of seven.
 "It is my ambition to play in the M-League," said Kuffour, who played
for Okwau United in Ghana before he was spotted for the Junior World Cup
squad.
 "Do not get me wrong. I love playing for Malacca Telekom and they are a
great team. But I just want to play at a higher level.
 "I hope to be noticed this year and fulfil my dream of playing in the M-
League. If I do not find a team, I am definitely heading for Europe," said
Kuffour, whose cousin Samuel Kuffour is a defender with Bayern Munich.
 Indeed, Kuffour is M-League material and it goes to show that State
coaches would do well to spot talents, local and foreign, in the FAM Cup
League.
 Apart from Malacca Telekom's other foreign signing in Oleg Burov,  the
other imports playing in the FAM Cup are Sabah Gunosukod Pangait's
Scottish defender Derek Wemyss, Brazilian  midfielder Edilson Cesar De
Araujo, French striker Joel Lahon, Kuala Lumpur Malay Mail's Australian
defender Taso Notaras, Wilayah Maju's Nigerian striker Mohamed Mohamed and
Terengganu Perkasa Alam's Ghanaian striker George Al Hassan Ibrahim.
 Meanwhile, the top four teams in each group of the FAM Cup qualify for
the final round, where they will be divided into two sections and play a
two-round league of six matches each.
 In Group A, Gunosukod and Negri Sembilan BSN have confirmed their berths
having gone unbeaten after seven matches. They have 19 points and another
three matches to complete their first round fixtures.
 This leaves Kelantan JKR, Johor City Hall and Kedah PKNK in a tussle
for the other two berths.
 In Group B, Malacca Telekom have secured a final round berth while the
fight for the other spots is keenly contested between Perkasa Alam, Kuala
Lumpur Malay Mail, Kelantan TNB and Kedah JKR.