By Andrew Erickson The Columbus Dispatch
When Harrison Afful first considered a move to Major League Soccer from a club in Tunisia, he thought about MLS's subpar reputation in Ghana, his native country.
"In years past, back home, when you come to MLS, they say you come to retire, that you're coming to the end of your career," he said.
The defender wasn't young by soccer standards but was a long way from the end of his career when he signed with Crew SC in July 2015, having turned 29 just six days earlier.
Countryman David Accam, who had signed with the Chicago Fire before the 2015 season, assured him of the league's talent level. A first-hand perspective likewise countered what Afful heard at home.
"I came here and I saw a different picture," Afful said. "I was surprised. It told me a lot. I took that challenge and I made it possible, and God has been so good."
The key to changing minds in Ghana, and to achieving success in any league, Afful said, is performance. Afful has started 39 matches over the last two seasons and was considered a bright spot on a disappointing 2016 Crew team.
This season, it's unlikely he will be the only Ghanaian in the Crew's starting 11. The team signed center back Jonathan Mensah as a designated player to help shore up the back line, and it plucked defensive midfielder Mohammed Abu out of Norway to provide sure-footed passing in the middle third. Lalas Abubakar, selected out of the University of Dayton with the fifth overall pick in the 2017 SuperDraft, provides depth on the back line.
Asked why he thinks MLS has become a more attractive option for Ghanaian players, Crew coach Gregg Berhalter said a couple of factors might be at play, including living environment and competition.
While the number of Ghanaian players in MLS has risen of late, Mensah, most recently of Anzhi Makhachkala in Russia, said Ghanaian talent is merely a microcosm of foreign interest in MLS.
"Not only Ghanaian players, I think it's just players from abroad," Mensah said. "You see Toronto with the Italian player (Sebastian) Giovinco, so it's a league that is kind of like opening up for all kinds of players from the whole world, getting more interesting as the years go by."
Still, Mensah said his transition to MLS was made easier through players such as Afful, with whom Mensah spoke often to get a better feel for the league. When Berhalter asked Afful about Mensah, whom Afful considers a "brother from a different mother," his answer was simple.
"I told (Berhalter), 'Hey, he's the kind of player you need,' " Afful said.
Mensah said Ghanaian players are drawn to one another on the pitch. It's how he explained creating a mentoring relationship with Abubakar in the players' first few days of knowing each other.
"It's very good because he's always calling me, 'Hey, big bro, big bro,'" Mensah said.
The connection between the two came together early, Abubakar said. How they address each other might change.
"I always call him, 'Boss.' And he said, 'Just call me Mensah.' " Abubakar said last week. "I've been learning a lot from him for the past couple days he has been with us. He has really been my mentor and I'm looking forward to learning more from him."
Abubakar, who grew up in Kumasi, Ghana, before coming to America to play for Dayton, said even more than a month into his professional career things can at times feel surreal. He watched players like Afful and Mensah, longtime members of Ghana's national team, on television in high school.
Now he suits up with them.
"It's kind of like I sit down and see myself, like, 'I can't believe I'm playing with them,' " Abubakar said.