San Jose’s leading scorer has lost 17 relatives to the rebel uprisings in Sierra Leone
Abdul Thompson Conteh has a lot on his mind. The San Jose forward is trying to help his last-place club string together some good performances after half a season of inconsistency. The Earthquakes are terrible on the road but decent within the close confines of Spartan Stadium.
Conteh is San Jose’s main attacking weapon, but he’s still under pressure to prove himself after a slow start. Three goals and three assists in the last four games have put him on track.
However, the Quakes’ problems become trivial as Conteh copes with news from his native land.
The continuing human rights violations in Sierra Leone, his homeland, weigh heavily on him. He worries about his family’s welfare amid the news of murder, mutilation and rape in the African country of 5.3 million. While his immediate family lives in the United States, he still has aunts, uncles and cousins in Sierra Leone.
Conteh says he puts aside thoughts of his country when he plays. But when he gets home, he thinks about Sierra Leone.
“I sit there and I wonder if one day if I can say, ‘OK, I am going home to spend the summer,'” he said. “But I have to be here. It’s tough. Right now, I have to accept it and deal with it.”
Conteh, who turns 30 on July 2, hasn’t been home since 1997, which is also the last time he played for his national team. He stopped playing for his country when it couldn’t assure him he would be safe from the atrocities committed by the rebel group RUF (Revolutionary United Front). While Sierra Leone’s nine-year civil war officially ended last year, violent uprisings continue to devastate the countryside.
The capture of RUF leader Foday Sankoh has brought hope for peace in Sierra Leone. And Conteh is contemplating returning to the national team for its World Cup qualifier against Ghana. Sierra Leone lost 2-0 away to Nigeria’s powerful Super Eagles and team officials want Conteh to help their squad in the July 8 match, moved to Ghana because of the violence.
‘OUR NIECE GOT KILLED.’ Conteh’s relatives, at the urging of his father, began migrating to the United States over the course of 16 years. Abdul Thompson was the youngest of eight children and the last to make the trip, in 1986. After attending Marshall High School, in Falls Church, Va., Conteh starred at the University of District of Columbia, a Division II school. He left as a junior in 1993 to go pro.
After stops in Mexico (Toluca and Monterrey), El Salvador (Atletico Marte) and Guatemala (he played for Comunicaciones last fall), Conteh returned to the United States and was allocated to San Jose in February. He holds a U.S. green card and has applied for U.S. citizenship.
The rest of Conteh’s family hasn’t been as fortunate. At least 17 relatives have been killed in the violence in Sierra Leone. He learned of the latest death while in Tampa on April 26 for a game against the Mutiny.
“We were in the hotel when I called my wife,” he said. “She said, ‘We got some bad news. Our niece got killed.'”
The absence of his wife, Denise, and children, Sabrina, 4, and Rasheed, 3 months, has added to his lonely life in San Jose. They lived in Virginia through most of the season and were expected to join Conteh in late June.
“Here I don’t have anything to do after soccer,” Conteh said. “I spend time on my laptop and I read a lot. I read Time, People, Newsweek, Soccer America. You can go to the movies only so much.”
He added, “I’m getting e-mails from friends from down there. They’re dodging bombs and sending e-mails. It’s incredible.”
Conteh spends much of his time on the Internet, scouring news sites. Media coverage of Sierra Leone is otherwise scarce in the United States, unlike, for example, the coverage of the Kosovo situation. The disparity is not lost on Conteh.
“I can’t say the United States has been biased towards Africa,” he said. “But we didn’t get the kind of help that countries like Kosovo have. They got better help and more attention than us.”
Conteh sends money to friends and family back home and may put together a fund-raising event for his country later this season. He says San Jose teammates and officials are supportive.
“We’re all aware of what is happening in his country,” San Jose midfielder Dario Brose said. “He’s talked about it, but he’s also able to get his mind off it and do his job. It’s one of those things that makes us appreciate how lucky we are to live here.”
NO PLAYING WORRIES. Conteh’s job is getting easier. He says his extra work after practice ù taking shots on San Jose goalkeeper Joe Cannon with fellow forward Ronald Cerritos ù has paid off after a slow start.
“The goalkeepers were just making terrific saves, and I was hitting the post,” Conteh said of his first four games of the season. “But now suddenly it’s beginning to go in and I’m starting to get more confidence.”
Still, Conteh’s inconsistent play has exasperated San Jose coach Lothar Osiander.
The Quakes’ forward has a propensity to be caught offside and will occasionally make the wrong runs. With Cerritos injured, he’s playing out of position as the lone forward in the Quakes’ 4-5-1 formation.
“You have to draw a line onto the pitch for him to run onto,” Osiander said. “But I can’t be unhappy with him. He does have a nose for the goal and he’s got some freakin’ jets. If he ever learns how to use those things, he’ll be a very good player. Unfortunately, he doesn’t know where, when, what, how, but he does have a nose for the goal.”
Conteh is the only Quake to play in the club’s first 17 games and leads San Jose with seven goals and three assists.
Opposing defenders have taken notice and often double team him, especially when he’s the lone forward.
“You’ve got to play him tight, put a body on him when he’s got the ball,” New England’s Brian Dunseth said. “He’s got a ton of pace. My thing is to be a little off him and play the offside because I know his tendency is to go early. He does well.”
Conteh doesn’t mind criticism. And he’s not worried that San Jose’s next foreign player, perhaps Norwegian Jan-Aage Fjortoft, who is the type of target man that Osiander covets, may vie for his position.
“I know what I can do,” he said. “I know my caliber of play. I know I am a fast player. If people spring me, I can create a lot of powerful plays. And a lot of coaches are looking for that kind of player. That’s the kind of player I am.
“So, worried about my spot on the team? No. Worried about the coach getting disappointed with me? No. I just go in the game and try to give my best. And so far I think it’s been going on pretty well for me.”
by Soccer America associate editor Dean Caparaz