Daniel Afriyie
Personal information
Full name Daniel Afriyie Barnieh[1]
Date of birth (2001-06-26) 26 June 2001 (age 22)[1]
Place of birth Kumasi, Ghana
Height 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)[1]
Position(s) Attacking midfielder, forward
Team information
Current team
 Zürich
Number 18
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2018–2019 Rahimo
2020–2023 Hearts of Oak 62 (13)
2023– Zürich 18 (2)
International career‡
2020–2021 Ghana U20 10 (3)
2022–2023 Ghana U23 6 (4)
2022– Ghana 6 (4)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 15 December 2023
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 11:02, 30 June 2023 (UTC)

Daniel Afriyie Barnieh (born 26 June 2001) is a Ghanaian professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or a forward for Swiss Super League club Zürich.[2][3]

Early life

Born in the Ashanti Region of Ghana, Afriyie is an Akan by birth and descent.[4] He attended Dunyan Nkwanta JHS in the Ahafo Ano South district, Mankranso in Ashanti Region and later proceeded to Aduman Senior High School in Aduman for his secondary school education. He admired Brazilian striker Ronaldo and idolizes Sergio Agüero who he considers as his idol.[4]

Club career

Early career

Afriyie featured for a number of colts (juvenile) clubs in the Ashanti Region where he ascended to a cult hero status. He began at Amansie FC before joining Celtic Academy in Kumasi then moved to colts club Valencia in 2015.[4]

“I’ve never really seen myself as an out-and-out striker, but I did not have the choice to tell the coach my favourite position. They might have dropped me,”

— Afriyie talking about his trial time at Kotoko.[5]

He moved a step further in his career by moving to the Ghana Division Two League with Galaxy United where he featured from 2016 to 2017.[4] In January 2018, Afriyie joined Burkina Faso top flight side Rahimo FC where helped the club to win the Burkinabé Premier League in the 2018–19 Burkinabé Premier League season and secure qualification to the 2019–20 CAF Champions League.[4] He made a return to Ghana and joined Thunder Bolt also in the Ghana Division Two League and played for a short stint before securing a move to Madina Republicans in the same league in 2019.[6][4] In December 2019, Afriyie was given a four-week trial at Kumasi Asante Kotoko. He failed to impress during the trials after being played out of position as an out and out striker but found it difficult to communicate it to the coach with fear of being dropped.[5]

Hearts of Oak

The following month after being dropped by Kotoko, Afriyie was given another chance to play for a Ghana Premier League side after he was offered as part of negotiations between Hearts of Oak and Abdul Aziz Nurudeen who he shared the same agent with.[5] He was given the opportunity to trial and be observed by the head coach. Fortunately for him, he impressed the technical staff and on 15 January 2020 he was signed on a three-year deal ahead of the 2019–20 Ghana Premier League.[7][5][8] He made his debut on 19 January 2020 in a 2–1 away win against Liberty Professionals.[9]

FC Zürich

On 3 January 2023, Afriyie officially joined Swiss side Zürich for an undisclosed fee, signing a contract until June 2026 with the club.[10] The player's registration was set to be completed after his participation in the 2022 African Nations Championship with the Ghana A' national team.[10]

International career

In October 2019, Afriyie received a call up into Ghana national under-23 preliminary squad ahead of the 2019 U-23 Africa Cup of Nations, though reports were that he put on an impressive showdown, he missed out on the final squad.[4]

In August 2020, he was named on the Ghana national under-20 preliminary squad for the 2020 WAFU Zone B U-20 Tournament, which also served as the qualifiers for the Africa U-20 Cup of Nations.[11] He made the final squad and was appointed as the captain of the side.[12] He led Ghana to win the trophy and qualify for the 2021 Africa U-20 Cup of Nations.[13] In the final, he inspired the team by scoring the equalizer via a free-kick from Percious Boah in the 21st minute to trigger a comeback over their neighbours Burkina Faso in the final.[14] Boah later scored the final goal to seal the victory.[15]

Afriyie made the squad for the 2021 Africa U-20 Cup of Nations and again led Ghana to win the tournament for the first time in 12 years, since winning in 2009.[16] On 6 March, during the final, he scored a brace, one in each half to lead Ghana to a 2–0 victory and emerge as the African U-20 Champions for the 4th time in the country's history.[17][18] The game coincided with Ghana's 64th Independence Day celebration which drew in more excitement after the victory. Afriyie was ultimately adjudged the man of the match of the final.[19]

On 3 August 2021, after an impressive season with Hearts of Oak, Afriyie received his debut call up to the Ghana A' (Black Galaxies) under the management of Annor Walker for a camping exercise ahead of their upcoming international assignments including 2022 CHAN qualifiers and 2021 WAFU Nations Cup.[20] A week later, under the management of C.K. Akunnor, Afriyie was handed his first call-up into the Ghana senior team, the Black Stars, ahead of Ghana's 2022 Qatar FIFA World Cup Group G qualifiers against Ethiopia and South Africa. He was one of the five home-based players to make the squad.[21][22]

Personal life

In 2021, after Afriyie helped Hearts to win the 2020–21 Ghana Premier League, his manager Abdul Malik Ibrahim (board director of Pacific Oil GH) presented him with a brand new 2013 Hyundai Veloster.[23][24]

Career statistics

Club

As of 5 August 2023[25]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup Continental Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Hearts of Oak 2019–20 Ghana Premier League 10 1 0 0 — — 10 1
2020–21 Ghana Premier League 22 3 6 5 — — 28 8
2021–22 Ghana Premier League 26 8 4 3 5[a] 0 1[b] 1 36 12
2022–23 Ghana Premier League 4 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 6 1
Total 62 13 10 8 7 0 1 1 80 22
Zürich 2022–23 Swiss Super League 6 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 2
Career total 68 15 10 8 7 0 1 1 86 24
  1. ^ Three appearances in CAF Champions League, two appearances and in CAF Confederation Cup
  2. ^ Appearances in President's Cup

International

Scores and results list Ghana's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Afriyie goal.[26]
List of international goals scored by Daniel Afriyie
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 24 July 2022 Cape Coast Sports Stadium, Cape Coast, Ghana  Benin 1–0 3–0 2022 African Nations Championship qualification
2 30 July 2022 Stade de l’Amitié Mathieu Kérékou, Cotonou, Benin 1–0 1–0
3 29 August 2022 Cape Coast Sports Stadium, Cape Coast, Ghana  Nigeria 1–0 2–0
4 19 January 2023 Mohamed Hamlaoui Stadium, Constantine, Algeria  Sudan 2–1 3–1 2022 African Nations Championship


Honours

Rahimo
Hearts of Oak
Ghana U20

Individual

References

  1. ^ a b c "FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022: List of players: Ghana" (PDF). FIFA. 15 November 2022. p. 14. Retrieved 4 December 2022.
  2. ^ "The ultimate 18-team Ghana Premier League season guide 2020/21 - MyJoyOnline.com". My Joy Online. Retrieved 17 February 2021.
  3. ^ "Hearts of Oak forward Daniel Afriyie named Ghana U-20 captain ahead of WAFU championship". GhanaSoccernet. 14 October 2020. Retrieved 17 February 2021.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h "All you need to know about Hearts of Oak golden boy Daniel Afriyie". GhanaWeb. 3 February 2020. Retrieved 20 August 2021.
  5. ^ a b c d Tahiru, Fentuo (28 June 2021). "Afriyie Barnieh: Once rejected by Kotoko; he's the hero Hearts of Oak deserve". Citi Sports Online. Archived from the original on 27 June 2021. Retrieved 21 August 2021.
  6. ^ "Hearts darling boy Afriyie Barnieh visits former club Madina Republicans". GhanaSoccernet. 27 July 2021. Retrieved 20 August 2021.
  7. ^ Kapoor, Daraja Jr. (15 January 2020). "Hearts of Oak sign highly-rated striker Daniel Barnieh Afriyie". Football Made In Ghana. Retrieved 20 August 2021.
  8. ^ Kwafo, Eric Nana Yaw (15 January 2020). "OFFICIAL: Hearts Of Oak Announce Capture Of Striker Daniel Barnieh". Modern Ghana. Archived from the original on 6 March 2021. Retrieved 21 August 2021.
  9. ^ "Match Report of Liberty Professionals FC vs Accra Hearts of Oak SC - 2020-01-19 - Ghana Premier League - Global Sports Archive". globalsportsarchive.com. Retrieved 17 February 2021.
  10. ^ a b "Der FC Zürich verpflichtet Stürmer Daniel Afriyie". FC Zürich (in German). 3 January 2023. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  11. ^ "Hearts Of Oak Congratulates Daniel Afriyie Barnieh On Invitation To Black Satellites Camp". Modern Ghana. Retrieved 21 August 2021.
  12. ^ "Hearts of Oak forward Daniel Afriyie named Ghana U-20 captain ahead of WAFU championship". GhanaSoccernet. 14 October 2020. Retrieved 21 August 2021.
  13. ^ Nkansah, Patrick (12 December 2020). "Black Satellites captain Daniel Afriyie on cloud nine after lifting first trophy". GBC Ghana Online. Ghana Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 21 December 2020. Retrieved 21 August 2021.
  14. ^ a b "Hearts to miss Afriyie Barnie in crucial game against Great Olympics". GhanaWeb. 27 January 2021. Retrieved 8 August 2021.
  15. ^ Football, CAF-Confedération Africaine du. "Ghana stage remarkable fightback to win WAFU B U-20 Championship". CAFOnline.com. Retrieved 21 August 2021.
  16. ^ Teye, Prince Narkortu (13 February 2021). "U20 Afcon: Schalke midfielder makes Ghana's 26-man squad for tournament". www.goal.com. Goal. Archived from the original on 21 August 2021. Retrieved 21 August 2021.
  17. ^ Football, CAF-Confedération Africaine du. "Ghana beat debutants Uganda to clinch Total AFCON U20 title". CAFOnline.com. Retrieved 21 August 2021.
  18. ^ a b "Live Updates: Ghana wins fourth U-20 AFCON title after beating Uganda". GhanaSoccernet. 6 March 2021. Retrieved 21 August 2021.
  19. ^ "Ghana claim Africa U20 trophy on Independence Day". Ghana Football Association. Retrieved 21 August 2021.
  20. ^ Teye, Prince Narkortu (3 August 2021). "Hearts of Oak attacker Afriyie and Asante Kotoko defender Ganiyu named in Ghana B squad". www.goal.com. Archived from the original on 21 August 2021. Retrieved 21 August 2021.
  21. ^ "CK Akonnor names 30-man squad for the 2022 World Cup qualifiers - MyJoyOnline.com". My Joy Online. Retrieved 21 August 2021.
  22. ^ Association, Ghana Football. "C.K Akonnor invites Ofori, Mensah, Manaf, Ashimeru and Kamal Deen for World Cup qualifiers". www.ghanafa.org. Retrieved 21 August 2021.
  23. ^ "Daniel Afriyie Barnieh receives brand new car after Ghana Premier League triumph". GhanaWeb. 14 July 2021. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
  24. ^ "Hearts of Oak star Afriyie Barnieh gifted brand new car after Premier League title success". GhanaSoccernet. 14 July 2021. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
  25. ^ "Daniel Afriyie Barnieh". Global Sports Archive.
  26. ^ "Daniel Afriyie". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 23 August 2022.
  27. ^ Appiah, Samuel Ekow Amoasi (17 July 2021). "Hearts of Oak crowned 2020/21 Ghana Premier League champions [Photos]". Modern Ghana. Archived from the original on 17 July 2021. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
  28. ^ "Hearts of Oak beats Ashgold on penalties to win MTN FA Cup". GhanaWeb. 8 August 2021. Retrieved 8 August 2021.
  29. ^ "2022 MTN FA Cup final: How Hearts and Bechem United made it - MyJoyOnline.com". My Joy Online. 24 June 2022. Retrieved 26 June 2022.
  30. ^ "Ghana FA to confirm Hearts of Oak as Super Cup winners". GhanaSoccernet. 9 August 2021. Retrieved 10 August 2021.
  31. ^ "Hearts of Oak beat Asante Kotoko 2-1 to lift 2022 President's Cup". GhanaWeb. 4 March 2022. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
  32. ^ "SWAG Awards: Hearts of Oak striker Daniel Afriyie Barnieh wins Home-based Footballer of the Year". GhanaSoccernet. 17 December 2021. Archived from the original on 18 December 2021. Retrieved 27 December 2021.
  33. ^ Akyereko, Akwasi (28 January 2023). "Hearts star-boy Afriyie Barnieh dumps Galaxies teammate Danlad Ibrahim and GPL goal-king Annor to win 2022 SWAG Home-based Footballer of the Year". Ghana Sports Online. Archived from the original on 21 March 2023. Retrieved 29 January 2023.

External links

FC Zürich – current squad
Ghana squad – 2022 FIFA World Cup
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