Emmanuel Boateng (footballer, born 1994)

Emmanuel Boateng
Boateng for Helsingborgs IF in November 2013
Personal information
Full name Emmanuel Agyenim Boateng
Date of birth (1994-01-17) 17 January 1994
Place of birth Accra, Ghana
Height 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)
Playing position Winger
Club information
Current team
 LA Galaxy
Number 24
Youth career
2006–2009 Right to Dream Academy
Cate School
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2012 UC Santa Barbara Gauchos 18 (4)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2013 Ventura County Fusion 5 (1)
2013–2016 Helsingborgs IF 37 (4)
2016– LA Galaxy 82 (7)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 11:55, 20 September 2018 (UTC)

Emmanuel Agyenim "Ema" Boateng (born 17 January 1994) is a Ghanaian professional footballer who currently plays as a forward for Major League Soccer team LA Galaxy.

Early life and education

Boateng was born and raised in Ghana in a home that lacked running water and electricity.[1] As a preteen, he was selected to join the Right to Dream Academy where he combined academic studies with football training.[1]

In 2009 at the age of 15, Boateng moved to the United States on a scholarship to attend Cate School in Carpinteria, California.[2][3] In addition to playing for the Cate School team, he also appeared for other local youth sides in Santa Barbara Soccer Club and South Coast Strikers.[4] Boateng received the 2012 Gatorade Player of the Year award, presented to him by former winner Alexi Lalas, and became the first recipient in Cate School's 100+ year history across all sports.[1][2] He skipped his final year of high school to enroll early at the University of California, Santa Barbara, despite professional interest from Manchester City F.C. to sign him on professional terms.[2]

While at UCSB, Boateng played college soccer for the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos men's soccer team.[3] In his first year in 2012, he appeared in 18 games, scoring 4 goals and adding 4 assists.[5]

Club career

Early career

During the summer of 2013, he played with USL Premier Development League side Ventura County Fusion while still enrolled in college.[6] He appeared in 5 games for the Fusion, scoring once.[7][8]

After receiving an invitation to train with Swedish Allsvenskan side Helsingborgs IF later that summer, Boateng paid for his own airplane ticket across the Atlantic Ocean to be able to visit the club. He made a big impression and soon thereafter they signed him to a three-and-a-half-year contract in July 2013.[4][9][10] He would appear in 37 Allsvenskan matches over his three seasons with the club, scoring 4 times.[11]

LA Galaxy

Boateng was transferred to LA Galaxy of Major League Soccer in January 2016.[12][13] He made his debut against the Colorado Rapids on 12 March 2016, where he replaced Mike Magee, but was unable to save the Galaxy from a 1–0 loss.[14] He scored his first goal for the club on 23 April 2016 against Real Salt Lake, helping the Galaxy to a 5–2 victory, while also notching two assists.[15][16] This performance earned him Player of the Week honors.[17] Boateng scored his second goal of the season on 7 September, the first goal of a 3–3 draw at RSL.[18]

During the 2016 MLS Cup Playoffs, in LA's knockout round match against Real Salt Lake, Boateng fouled Javier Morales, conceding a penalty which was successfully taken by Joao Plata to tie the game at 1. However, Boateng atoned for his mistake by scoring two goals within eight minutes, leading Galaxy to a 3–1 win.[19] After the game, teammate Landon Donovan compared Boateng's first goal to Lionel Messi, saying that "he has that in him", while manager Bruce Arena described his performance as an "excellent, break out game".[20]

Personal

It was reported that Boateng received his U.S. citizenship in 2016.[21]

Career statistics

As of 23 October 2016[22]
Club Season League Cup Play-offs CONCACAF Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Helsingborgs IF 2013 Allsvenskan4052————92
2014 Allsvenskan12011————131
2015 Allsvenskan21410————224
Total 37473————447
LA Galaxy 2016 MLS262402220344
Career total 63611322207811

Personal life

His story was featured in The Beautiful Game, a 2012 documentary about football in Africa, and on CNN's report on the Right to Dream Academy.[3][23]

Outside of football, Boateng's ambition is to become a doctor.[2] He speaks three languages.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Konecky, Chad (18 May 2012). "Boateng nets National Player of the Year". ESPN. Retrieved 18 March 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Eskilson, J.R. (12 July 2012). "From Ghana to Hollywood: Boateng's rise". Retrieved 18 March 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 Brugger, Kelsey (21 June 2013). "Meet Soccer Star Ema Boateng". Santa Barbara Independent. Santa Barbara, California. Retrieved 18 March 2016.
  4. 1 2 Nilsson, Tomas (20 July 2013). "Boateng gillar sitt nya gäng". Helsingborgs Dagblad (in Swedish). Helsingborg, Sweden. Retrieved 18 March 2016.
  5. ↑ "2012 UC Santa Barbara Statistics". Retrieved 18 March 2016.
  6. ↑ Curley, Joe (10 May 2013). "Ventura County Fusion have lofty goals despite reshuffled roster". Ventura County Star. Camarillo, California. Retrieved 18 March 2016.
  7. ↑ "2013 PDL Field Stats". Retrieved 18 March 2016.
  8. ↑ "2013 Ventura County Fusion roster and statistics". Archived from the original on 26 August 2014. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
  9. ↑ Bird, Liviu (22 August 2013). "Former UCSB standout scores first professional goals in Swedish Cup". NBC Sports. Retrieved 18 March 2016.
  10. ↑ Ralph, Matt (23 July 2013). "UCSB Star Ema Boateng Signs with Swedish First Division". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 18 March 2016.
  11. ↑ "Ema Boateng SvFF player profile" (in Swedish). Swedish Football Association. Retrieved 18 March 2016.
  12. ↑ "Boateng till LA Galaxy" (in Swedish). Helsingborgs IF. 14 January 2015. Archived from the original on 3 February 2016. Retrieved 18 March 2016.
  13. ↑ "LA Galaxy acquire forward Emmanuel Boateng". LA Galaxy. 14 January 2016. Retrieved 18 March 2016.
  14. ↑ Colorado Rapids vs. LA Galaxy 1 - 0 (3/12/16), 12 March 2016
  15. ↑ Hornish, Mark Edward (25 April 2016). "Emmanuel Boateng's unique path to first MLS goal". Retrieved 25 April 2016.
  16. ↑ Rodriguez, Alicia (24 April 2016). "LA Galaxy 5, Real Salt Lake 2 - 2016 MLS Match Recap". Major League Soccer. Retrieved 25 April 2016.
  17. ↑ Panizo, Franco (26 April 2016). "LA Galaxy newcomer Emmanuel Boateng voted MLS Player of the Week for Week 8". MLS Soccer.
  18. ↑ "Real Salt Lake Stuns LA Galaxy with Stoppage-Time Equalizer" (Press release). Sandy, Utah: RSL Communications. 7 September 2016.
  19. ↑ Couch, Ben (27 October 2016). "LA Galaxy 3, Real Salt Lake 1". MLS Soccer.
  20. ↑ Serber, Marc (27 October 2016). "Emmanuel Boateng's Messi-like goal for LA in playoffs: "He has that in him"". MLS Soccer.
  21. ↑ http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/Boateng-willing-to-represent-Ghana-496959
  22. ↑ Emmanuel Boateng at Soccerway
  23. ↑ Tutton, Mark (15 April 2010). "African football academy creates future stars". CNN. Retrieved 18 March 2016.
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