Ghanaian Players Abroad: Team of the Week - Dutch pair Luckassen & Kappelhof make grades while Inaki & Assifuah lead attack

Published on: 09 November 2015
Ghanaian Players Abroad: Team of the Week - Dutch pair Luckassen & Kappelhof make grades while Inaki & Assifuah lead attack
Ghanaian Players Abroad - Team of the Week

By El Akyereko Frimpong

Follow the writer on Twitter:  @AkyerekOfficial

Spain-born Inaki Williams dominated the headlines in Europe after scoring a Cristiano Ronaldo-style finish for Athletic Bilbao in their 2-1 win over Espanyol. The eye-catching strike was the 21-year-old's 5th goal in 3 games for Bilbao in all competitions.

Elsewhere Ghana attacker Ebenezer Assifuah scored the second goal for FC Sion and propelled them to a 2-0 win over Luzern in the Swiss Super League on Sunday.

Meanwhile Godfred Donsah was voted man-of-the-match for his performance for Bologna in their 2-0 win over Hellas Verona in the Serie A on Saturday and Prince Buaben scored a fabulous finish for Heart of Midlothian in the Scottish Premiership.

Here's GHANAsoccernet.com's El Akyereko Frimpong's Team of the Week after monitoring and reporting on the performance of Ghanaian stars abroad before the international break.

GOALKEEPER - Adam Kwarasey (Portland Timbers - USA)

Kwarasey has had a fabulous end-to-season form that is likely to leave Ghana coach Avram Grant confused about not having him in his squad for the World Cup qualifiers. The 26-year-old custodian returned to man the posts for Timbers after being rested in their last Conference Cup play-off game. Kwarasey was excellent in post for Timbers who needed to win at Vancouver Whitecaps to stands any chance of title success at the end of the American season. If by some quirk of fate, Kwarasey still doesn't find reconciliation with the Ghana handlers and return to international football, he will be wasting away with some great abilities that should win him international recognition.

DEFENDER - Harrison Afful (Columbus Crew - USA)

The Black Stars full-back was in his elements for Crew on Sunday night as Sierra Leonean striker  Kei Kamara scored his second goal in the 111th minute and the Columbus Crew advanced to the MLS Cup Eastern Conference finals with a 3-1 victory over the Montreal Impact on Sunday night. Afful lasted the entire 120 minutes for Gregg Berhalter's men as they claimed a vital win over Gershon Koffie's side. His form in the USA league will be crucial for Ghana in the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifier this weekend.

DEFENDER - Dennis Appiah (Caen - France)

Appiah returned to his best as Caen regained their form to beat Guingamp 2-1 in the French Ligue 1 on Saturday evening. The former AS Monaco boy scored high marks in the game as he curtailed series of Guingamp ochestrations from the right side of defence. He occasional burst forwards to deliver incisive crosses also ranked his performance higher on the night.

DEFENDER - Derrick Luckassen (AZ Alkmaar - Netherlands)

When AZ Alkmaar manager John van den Brom settled on this Ghanaian chap to play in his central defence I'm sure he was not too confident about his decision. But the enterprising 20-year-old proved his versatility by totally outclassing the Vitesse Arnhem attack. He employed his commanding presence and towering height to deny them any real chance of scoring from central defence. Great show from the youngster as AZ won their first game in four matches.

DEFENDER - Johan Kappelhof (FC Groningen - Netherlands)

Kappelhof, born to a Ghanaian father in the Netherlands, became only the third Ghanaian defender to score in a recognisable league in Europe after Leicester City's Jeffrey Schlupp and John Boye in Turkey. Kappelhof's effort in the 52nd minute was crucial for Groningen as they stretched their unbeaten away form to two games. Great display from the versatile defender who can also play at lateral defence and still at 25 could be of great help to Ghana's defence if Avram Grant gets a look at him.

MIDFIELDER - Godfred Donsah (Bologna - Italy)

The 19-year-old returned to the Stadio Marc'Antonio Bentegodi to face his former employers and he put them to his own sword. Donsah raced quickly to invade the Verona box and smashed home a Mattia Destro well-taken cross from the right to register his first goal of the season. His brilliance on the afternoon won him the man-of-the-match award as Bologna recorded just their fourth win in 12 games since the start of the season.

MIDFIELDER - Prince Abankwa Buaben (Heart of Midlothian - Scotland)

Buaben, a former Watford player, got his highlights of the season in Heart's Saturday victory over Hamilton before 16000 excited fans at the Tynecastle Stadium. Buaben scored from a trademark effort from just outside of the area after racing to canon a wonderful effort beat Hamilton goalkeeper.The goal was his first in 14 games for the Jambos and it looks like he has gained the licence to score more goals.

MIDFIELDER - Solomon Asante (TP Mazembe - DR Congo)

This was the devil has returned performance from the pint-size winger. Asante cut the Algerians into size and slowly worked them to tire as Mazembe cruised to a 2-0 home win to grace their 5th triumph as Africa's champions with a 4-1 aggregate win. Mazembe manager Carteron knew just what to do with the little man sitting him out of the first-leg in Algiers he restored him to his starting line-up and 'el diable' worked devilishly to help in the win for Lubumbashi-based side.

MIDFIELDER - David Atanga (Liefering FC - Austria)

With Uefa Champions League experience, this fleeing 18-year-old midfielder is working magic in the Austrian second-tier league. He is on course for an award at the end of the season. Atanga scored an unbelievable finish for Liefering in their commanding 5-1 away win over Floridsdorfer AC. Red Bulls Salzburg manager Peter Zeidler must have a reason for sending him back to their amateur side where Ghana defender Isaac Vorsah is currently playing. He is the only player playing in a second-tier league to make the GSN Team of the Week. Great talent!

FORWARD - Ebenezer Assifuah (FC Sion - Switzerland)

Boom-boom as he is affectionately called by his Sion team-mate was purely lethargic on Sunday afternoon. Assifuah, a former player from Ghana's Liberty Professionals (based in Dansoman), had a hand in Carlitos's opening goal in the 33rd minute before he hammered home his own goal in the 62nd minute. The 2013 FIFA U20 World Cup Ghana striker seems to be putting himself in shape for Liverpool's visit to Switzerland in the Uefa Europa League.

FORWARD - Inaki Dannis Williams (Athletic Bilbao - Spain)

The most painful thing that could happen to Ghana in recent times is to lose this highly prolific scorer to Spain. Well, the Spaniards have already capped him at U21 level and looks set for a senior call-up from Vicente del Bosque with his recent devastating form. The 21-year-old's Cristiano Ronaldo-style finish for Athletic Bilbao in their 2-1 win over Espanyol was his 5th goal in just a week (3 games). After bagging a brace each against Partizan Belgrade in the Europa League and Real Betis this chap took his imperious scoring form to the San Mames once more finished off the Barcelona-based side. Maybe his goal was a message to their neighbours who he scored against last season.

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