Stefan Schwarz during his playing days
Former Arsenal star Hans Jurgen Stefan Schwarz has urged members of the sporting fraternity who are aspiring for greatness to ponder why they chose their respective disciplines.
In a solidarity message delivered on behalf of David Barry Dein, former Vice Chairman of the FA and Arsenal at the 43rd SAWG Awards in Accra, Hans charged sports men and women to remember why they chose to play.
He said, “For those who are here aspiring to achieve the ultimate, I urge you to remember why you choose to play. Play for yourself, play for your teammates, play for that little boy or girl who fell in love with the game.”
The former Swedish international added that “make sure you cherish every season, every game, every practice, it will be over a lot sooner than you realize.
“Tonight we recognize the achievements of a number of individuals in this hall, but I want to say congratulations to everyone. Being a professional athlete is no easy task. To the award winners, it’s been a great year and a good luck in your future endeavours.”
Born on April 18, 1969, the ex-Sunderland midfielder also featured for clubs like Benfica, Italian outfit, Fiorentina, Valencia, Bundesliga side Bayer Leverkusen, Malmo FF from the mid 80s to 2001.
He scored six times for the Swedish national side during his playing days.
By Kofi Owusu Aduonum