Afena-Gyan performance for Ghana against Nigeria in World Cup Playoff first leg agrees with Samuel Eto’o comparison
Cameroon FA President Samuel Eto’o could soon have someone who will replace him on the pitch after Ghana’s Afena-Gyan’s performance against Nigeria throwing high lights on his agent’s claim that the Ghanaian International is the one who share similar qualities with the former Barcelona forward.Felix Afena-Gyan’s agent- an influential and powerful source of information on the youngster to the Italian media- highlighted similar qualities the striker shares with Barcelona and Cameroon legend Samuel Eto’o.
The 19-year-old Ghanaian stepped into the spotlight on by scoring his first two Serie A goals in a 15-minute cameo to lead AS Roma to a 2-0 win over Genoa.
His exploits also earned praise from Giallorossi manager Jose Mourinho as well, who intended to buy him new €800 boots.
In 2021, Afena-Gyan’s agent, Oliver Arthur, compared the youngster to another African who once starred under Mourinho at Serie A rivals Inter Milan.
“Because of his physical structure, power and speed, Afena-Gyan looks like Eto’o, but we must tread carefully,” he told Tele Radio Stereo.
And Afena-Gyan agent’s comparison, backed by the Italian media, has been agreed to following the 19-year old’s performance in his maiden Black Stars debut against Nigeria in Kumasi.
The agent’s Afena-Gyan Samuel Eto’o similar qualities claim was witnessed in Ghana draw against Nigeria in World Cup Playoff at Baba Yara Sports Stadium.
Gyan started in his debut appearance leading Ghana’s attack with support from Crystal Palace forward Jordan Ayew in initial 2-man up front system.
Although the Roma youngster didn’t score in the crucial World Cup game but the many fans who watched the clash on Friday night were impressed with his overall performance against the Super Green Eagles.
Unlike Samuel Eto’o who played for Cameroon youth side U23, Afena-Gyan didn’t feature for any youth level of Ghana. Eto’o scored a goal in 6 appearances for Cameroon U23s.
Like the former Barcelona forward, Afena-Gyan didn’t score in his maiden game. The Roma forward’s movement was so close like Samuel Eto’o which caused problems for the Nigerian defense. A quality exhibited by Eto’o during most of his playing days at Barcelona and Inter Milan.
Someone popularly unfamiliar with football could structurally mistake Afena-Gyan for Eto’o when the cameras zoom-in during Black Stars World Cup Playoff fixture against Nigeria.
Along with Afena-Gyan’s structure that resembles Eto’o is his hold on plays. The Cameroonian International has been regarded as the best African player with great footwork- that largely requires the ability to hold on possession for supporting players to come into the frame.
Afena-Gyan held on most of Black Stars attacks at times he was left in a lone striker system after Jordan Ayew falling back to join the midfield. Because of his hold-on play quality and footwork, Eto’o beat off competition to become first choice striker at club and national team levels.
Like Samuel Eto’o, Afena-Gyan run behind Nigeria back line but the perfection of it caused Ghana not to break the game’s deadlock. Running behind the defense line is one great quality of the former LaLiga striker that made him score 108 goals in 144 league games for Barcelona and 33/67 for Inter.
For Afena-Gyan, at times Nigeria needed to stop setting the offside trap to deploy a man marking with Leon Balogun close-checking the Ghanaian forward regularly. Balogun feared with Afena-Gyan’s power and speed, he would run on shoulder of their defense for though balls and opted to keep man-marking his rival.
In areas like winning 50-50 balls from defenders, body-bullying defenders, headers (in scoring- like Didier Drogba’s hall mark), supporting striker role and air where Samuel Eto’o was somehow weak, Afena-Gyan showed these sides of the game against Nigeria in the Friday night football.
However, the Black Stars debutant showed promises of link-up plays against the Super Green Eagles. As one of Eto’o great assets (especially with former Brazilian superstar Ronaldinho and Messi), Afena-Gyan nearly combined with Fatawu Issahaku to give Ghana the lead in the first half.
Having caused the Nigerian defense with a couple of beautiful short passes and connections in final third, the 19-year old controlled a long pass from Gideon Mensah with his chest in the box before setting up Issahaku outside the box but the later’s short at goal was parried for a corner kick.
In what summarizes to a shine in his first Black Stars attempt against three times AFCON champions Nigeria, and at well packed Baba Yara Sports Stadium, Afena-Gyan showed he is the next Samuel Eto’o in the making- a figure touted as arguably the greatest African footballer.
Having demonstrated shows of Eto’o against on Friday, his agent Arthur was right that Afena-Gyan has similar qualities with the current Cameroonian Football Federation President.
Why Afena-Gyan didn’t accept Ghana’s first time call-up?
The teenage star couldn’t accept a first senior call-up to the Ghana national team during the last international break due to problems with documentation.
“There were no problems, everything was slowed down by the bureaucratic difficulties related to the documents that Rome had to send to Ghana to keep the boy in Italy,” Arthur explained.
“Felix is happy with the call, but he doesn’t want it to be a one-off. He wants to train and grow to be part of the Ghana national team permanently. He is loved in Africa and everybody speaks about him. Everyone wants to interview him.”
