Columbus Crew defender Lalas Abubakar visits mom, gets green card on trip

Published on: 16 October 2018

When Crew SC’s starting lineup and seven bench players were announced for the team’s Oct. 6 game at Montreal, Lalas Abubakar was absent.

Josh Williams replacing Abubakar in the starting lineup for the game was not too much of a surprise after Abubakar had a difficult evening in a 0-0 tie against the Philadelphia Union the week before.

But the second-year center back’s departure from the game-day lineup was not unexpected. As it turned out, Abubakar not traveling to Montreal was not born of injury or illness but instead a multipurpose trip to his native Ghana.

The 23-year-old previously had a interview for his United States green card scheduled in May but had to postpone it due to Crew SC’s game at Sporting Kansas City. With coach Gregg Berhalter’s permission, he took that leave the weekend of the Montreal game and into last week.

Abubakar ended his trip by completing necessary green-card paperwork in Ghana’s capital city of Accra, but before that spent the weekend with his mother, Amida Ahmed, in his hometown, Kumasi.

Making the trip even more special was its rarity. It marked Abubakar’s first time seeing his mother in 4½ years.

“Seeing her was the best thing,” Abubakar said, beaming. “It was the best. I was so happy.”

Abubakar, who was drafted fifth overall out of the University of Dayton by Crew SC in the 2017 SuperDraft, said it was difficult spending so much time away from his mother, but several factors played a role in the delay.

Money was tight during his time at Dayton, and he wanted to focus on his studies. Seeking to improve his conditioning and prospects of playing regular minutes ahead of his second season in MLS, he spent his first professional offseason working out in Columbus.

With each postponement came a response from Ahmed of, “I’m always here.”

“That’s what she would always tell me,” Abubakar said. “Anytime I would call her and miss her, it was like, ‘Lalas, I know. When the right time comes, you’re going to see me.’”

In between Abubakar’s in-person visits, he and his mother talked on the phone regularly. Abubakar said a good friend of his occasionally checks in on Ahmed and helps set up FaceTime calls between the mother and son.

Naturally, the four-hour time difference between Abubakar and his mother leads to a few missed connections. Ahmed is often asleep when the Crew kicks off at 11:30 p.m. Kumasi time, and she receives updates the following day. Abubakar has fielded a handful of phone calls in Columbus at 3 a.m.

“I’ll wake up and I say, ‘Mom, I’m sleeping. I’ll call you when I wake up. I’m safe,’ ” he said. “Me and my mom, we are really close because of the way we miss each other. We always make sure we stay in touch and she knows how I’m doing.”

Though his most recent trip to Ghana flew by, the U.S. green card will serve a couple of purposes. Abubakar no longer will count as an international player in MLS and he now will be able to set up more frequent visits with his mother, stepbrother and stepsister.

“It’s going to be easier to bring them over,” Abubakar said. “It’s a really good thing and the club was really helpful making that happen. I thank them for that.”

Source: The Columbus Dispatch

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