Afena-Gyan: How AS Roma Teen Went From Dancing at High School to Qualifying Ghana to the World Cup in A Year

Afena-Gyan: How AS Roma Teen Went From Dancing at High School to Qualifying Ghana to the World Cup in A Year

Lukman Mumuni
updated at April 12, 2023 at 7:59 PM
In this article:
Felix Ohene Afena-Gyan logo
F.Afena-Gyan
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  • Felix Afena-Gyan made history after being a part of the Black Stars team that qualified for the 2022 World Cup
  • Two years ago the AS Roma forward was just a high school going kid with dreams of playing football
  • The 19-year-old has now made it to the biggest sporting stage after helping the Black Stars reach Qatar 2022

Just a little over a year, Felix Afena-Gyan had no idea he was going to be playing in Europe and as a matter of fact, Italy.

But 12 months down the lane, he is a star at AS Roma. While in Ghana, he was just a school going boy with a passion for football and enormous talent and like many kids in Berekum, life was fun.

In an old video, which looks like it was taken a year ago, Afena-Gyan is seen dancing and enjoying himself at Berekum Presec and that has got many talking.

Afena-Gyan, Black Stars, Ghana, AS Roma, World Cup, Nigeria, Abuja
Felix Afena-Gyan went from dancing in high school to going to the World Cup. Credit: @ohenegyanfelix9 @julietbawuah
Source: Twitter

The boy born in Wenchi has risen to global stardom in 12 months and he is currently the toast of AS Roma in Italy.

He had a trial with giants AC Milan but Roma saw the potential in the teen sensation and immediately gazumped him from the noses of their rivals. AS Roma signed him to their youth team and he showed enormous quality in the Primavera league.

His phenomenal performances saw Jose Mourinho pass by the youth team to watch him play and just after a game he invited him to the senior side.

After three first-team games, Mourinho has refused to let the then 18-year-olf return to the youth team, insisting he is staying with the senior side.

“I am sorry for Mister De Rossi and the Primavera squad, but Felix will stay with us. The Primavera work close to us, so Felix and another four or five players have come across to the senior squad,” said Mourinho as quoted by GHANASoccernet.com.

Afena-Gyan agrees to join the Black Stars

After two attempts to get the Berekum-born attacker to join the team, he finally accepted to play for the Black Stars in the two-legged play-off against Nigeria.

It had to take some persuasion from interim manager Otto Addo, who met Jose Mourinho to get him be a part of the historic team.

Afena-Gyan made his debut against Nigeria in Kumasi and was one of the brightest spots and yesterday in Abuja, he showed grit, giving problems to Leon Balogun and William Trost-Ekong.

The youngster has already been labelled the next Asamoah Gyan.

Authors
Lukman Mumuni photo
Lukman Mumuni
Lukman Abdul Mumin is a Sports Journalist based in Accra, Ghana. He has been writing for the past five years. Lukman joined Sports Brief as an Editor for the Local Desk in 2022.
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