Sports Features of Friday, 13 June 2014

Source: FIFA

Player Profile: Samuel Inkoom

A quick threat down the flank, Samuel Inkoom has made a successful transition from Ghana’s U-20 team to the senior side. He was among the players who successfully converted a penalty in a shootout against Brazil in the final in Cairo, ensuring Ghana became the first African side to win the FIFA U-20 World Cup. His performances were such that he made the Black Stars squad for the FIFA World Cup™ the following year, and he has been a regular in the squad ever since.

Inkoom, who turns 25 at the start of June, hails from the coastal town of Sekondi, where he began his club career at Sekondi Hasaacas. His potential and athletic ability saw him move to Asante Kotoko at the start of 2008 after only just a few months with Sekondi. By the end of the year he’d won his first international cap in a friendly against Tunisia and, in 2009, Inkoom was on the move again. He headed to Switzerland, where he signed for FC Basel before moving, once more, to Ukrainian outfit Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk. Two loan periods at French side Bastia and Greek outfit Platanias followed, with the defender eventually signing a permanent contract deal with the latter.