Prince Boadu : A Star In The Making
Young striker, Prince Kofi Boadu, is gradually warming himself into stardom with his exceptional striking instincts which has endeared him to football fans in Ashaley Botwe, a surburb of Accra.
The 20-year-old offensive midfielder-turned-striker, who features for division three side, Klang Martulis FC, scored 13 goals to finish second on the goal king chart last season, two goals shy of the top scorer.
Prince, affectionately called Essien by his numerous fans due to his close resemblance to the famous Chelsea midfielder, Michael Essien, and great striking abilities, discovered his great potential from his childhood days when he had his first training session with Young Manchester FC, an Under-12 colts team at Kasoa.
He started playing football with his brothers and cousins at age seven, and had already shown signs of a promising second season with Klang Martulis FC, scoring two goals in two matches to propel them to the second position on the league table with the maximum six points.
In an interview with the Graphic Sports last Saturday, the affable player said before joining Klang Martulis in 2007, he had played for Genesis FC and division three side Anderlect FC. For him, waking up as early as 4 a.m. to do his personal training before joining his teammates at 6a.m. for the day’s training is as paramount as playing in the premiership.
When his team represented the nation at the 2008 Homeless World Cup tournament in Melbourne, Australia, last December, his deft touches, skills and great striking role caught the attention of many foreign journalists who described him as “Ghana’s brightest star” in the tournament during post-match interviews.
Ghana was one of the top four finishers of the tournament out of the 56 nations that gathered in Melbourne. The other top three countries were Afghanistan, Russia and Scotland.
Prince, a graduate of Calvary International School and West Africa Senior High School (WASS), was one of the players selected to participate in this year’s Second Cycle Schools Inter-Regional Championships after aiding his school to win the Zonal Championship, while finishing second in the Super-Zonal competition.
He hails from Apedwa in the Eastern Region and has Black Stars skipper, Stephen Appiah and midfielder Iniesta of Barcelona as his role models, with Dansoman-based Liberty Professionals and Chelsea being his favourite local and foreign clubs he yearns to play for in the near future.
“I like Iniesta because of his style of play, distribution of passes and creation of chances. A midfielder like that will always help his team to win matches so I want to be like him. Appiah, on the other hand, is a committed player, very sociable off the field and often gives to the needy as part of his social responsibility”, he explained.
He hopes to go back to school as well as train as a military officer after playing professional football and serving his dear country, adding “I want to emulate Yusif Chibsah who is currently combining education with active football in Sweden”.
Story : Beatrice Laryea