GFA not doing enough to lure European born players to play for Black Stars – Derek Boateng
Former Ghana international Derek Boateng believes the Ghana Football Association (GFA) is not doing enough to attract European-born Ghanaian players to join the national team.Although the GFA has successfully recruited players like Inaki Williams, Tariq Lamptey, and Antoine Semenyo, Boateng insists that the association needs a more structured plan to engage young players born in Europe to play for the four-time African champions.In an interview, the former Fulham midfielder highlighted how countries like Germany are proactive in scouting young players with German roots and nurturing them for the national team.He expressed his frustration at seeing players of Ghanaian descent, such as Kobbie Mainoo, Jeremy Doku, Jeremie Frimpong, and Nico Williams, representing European countries instead.“Certain things are happening which should not be done or allowed, and I believe there is a lot more that must be done,” Boateng told Accra-based Kingdom FM.He shared his experiences from scouting trips in the USA, where he observed other countries’ efforts to identify and develop young talent with roots in their respective nations. He noted that Germany, in particular, actively scouts young players with German heritage and brings them into the fold early to foster a sense of national identity....
[caption id="attachment_980420" align="alignnone" width="300"] Derek Boateng[/caption]
Former Ghana international Derek Boateng believes the Ghana Football Association (GFA) is not doing enough to attract European-born Ghanaian players to join the national team.
Although the GFA has successfully recruited players like Inaki Williams, Tariq Lamptey, and Antoine Semenyo, Boateng insists that the association needs a more structured plan to engage young players born in Europe to play for the four-time African champions.
In an interview, the former Fulham midfielder highlighted how countries like Germany are proactive in scouting young players with German roots and nurturing them for the national team.
He expressed his frustration at seeing players of Ghanaian descent, such as Kobbie Mainoo, Jeremy Doku, Jeremie Frimpong, and Nico Williams, representing European countries instead.
“Certain things are happening which should not be done or allowed, and I believe there is a lot more that must be done,” Boateng told Accra-based Kingdom FM.
He shared his experiences from scouting trips in the USA, where he observed other countries’ efforts to identify and develop young talent with roots in their respective nations. He noted that Germany, in particular, actively scouts young players with German heritage and brings them into the fold early to foster a sense of national identity.
“I have been in USA for a scouting job multiple times and I have seen expatriates also joining to scout players but they are doing that for their country and I know Germany are doing that.
“I was told that they are doing that because they want to bring all young players with their roots from Germany and after identifying them, they will camp them and by doing that, the players will know where they are coming from."
He continued “In Ghana, we don’t know how to do these things, and we keep losing players because we are not paying attention to how we can get them,” Boateng lamented. “How can we lose players like Kobbie Mainoo, Jeremy Doku, Jeremie Frimpong, and Nico Williams? Inaki is playing for us, but why couldn’t we get Nico? Because he is good and talented, Spain blocked his chances of playing for Ghana.”
He criticized the GFA’s reactive approach, emphasizing the need to engage players and their families from a young age rather than waiting until they have already begun their professional careers.
“We must do a lot more, and we shouldn’t wait until they are grown up and playing before we start talking to them. By then, their parents will not even allow it because we were not there from the beginning, so why now?”
