Ghana vs. Nigeria: How Mourinho’s prodigy tormented Super Eagles

Young AS Roma striker Felix Afena-Gyan gave the world a glimpse of what Portuguese manager Jose Mourinho said he is capable of Friday night as he tormented our defenders for 82 minutes.

Afena-Gyan so much impressed on his debut for Ghana, appearing in the high-profile match against Nigeria on Friday at the Baba Yara Stadium. If Mourinho was watching he would probably have said to those around him, ‘I told you first’.

Otto Addo, Ghana's coach, chose the 19-year-old to lead the Black Stars attack, and he did not disappoint. When he was substituted late in the game due to cramps, fans applauded.

Afena-Gyan was all over the place, and his space worried Nigeria's centre-back duo of William Troost-Ekong and Leon Balogun.

He controlled a long pass beautifully in the first half and teed up Fatawu Issahaku, whose ferocious strike forced Francis Uzoho to make the game's first save.

Prior to accepting the invitation to the World Cup playoff tie against the Super Eagles of Nigeria, Afena-Gyan had turned down two others.

The young man, who was playing lower-tier football in Ghana a year ago, insisted he was not ready.

Afena-Gyan accepted this one because he was prepared, and he proved it in front of a raucous crowd. 

The young prodigy joined AS Roma youth team recently and when Mourinho saw him training with the youth team he promoted to the senior team and told the youth coach, 

“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,” added Mourinho.

“You get these kids now who think they know everything, but he is humble and you can sense he just absorbs all this information from everyone around him. That’s fantastic.

“What impressed me the most was his cool head in front of goal. If he is not in terms of technique fantastic, he does have a strong mentality.”
Afena-Gyan did not disappoint Mourinho as the starlet notched a brace in their 2-0 victory over Genoa in Serie A shortly after his promotion to the senior team.

The 18-year-old arrived as a 75th-minute substitute, with the scores level at 0-0 and he made a huge difference in the game.

The Ghanaian scored his first goal for Roma in the 82nd minute as he slotted a low driving effort into the bottom corner.

In stoppage-time, he struck a sensational effort from long-range which cruised past Genoa goalkeeper Salvatore Sirigu into the top corner to seal the victory and his new footwear, which his boss delivered on.

To his reward him for the brace Mourinho bought a very expensive shoe
“I had promised to buy Felix the shoes he really likes, which are really expensive, they cost €800, as he ran over and told me not to forget! Tomorrow morning, the first thing I do is buy him the boots,” said Mourinho.

Despite his immense love for Ghanaian Mourinho still use the stick when he crosses the line. 

When an injured Afena-Gyan went to the night club instead of resting at home he was dropped back down to the B team by the coach. 

Mourinho was believed to have been very disappointed when he found out and has dropped the player back down to the B team as a punishment. 

The Roma manager is not the kind of boss you want to get on the wrong side of and Afena-Gyan found out the hard way.

Mourinho’s carrot and stick approach notwithstanding the young forward is in love with his manager.