{"id":1050836,"date":"2022-04-09T17:14:34","date_gmt":"2022-04-09T17:14:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/04\/09\/issahaku-eyes-world-cup-after-joining-sporting-lisbon\/"},"modified":"2022-04-09T17:14:34","modified_gmt":"2022-04-09T17:14:34","slug":"issahaku-eyes-world-cup-after-joining-sporting-lisbon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/04\/09\/issahaku-eyes-world-cup-after-joining-sporting-lisbon\/","title":{"rendered":"Issahaku eyes World Cup after joining Sporting Lisbon"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"td-post-featured-image\">\n<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"696\" height=\"464\" class=\"entry-thumb\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/FPrmZ8AWQAQJS42-696x464.jpg\"   alt=\"Abdul Fatawu Issahaku\" title=\"Abdul Fatawu Issahaku\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Abdul Fatawu Issahaku<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>Reigning Africa U20 best player, Abdul Fatawu Issahaku, says his move to Portuguese giants Sporting Lisbon will help him reach his full potential starting with the 2022 World Cup.<\/p>\n<p>The Ghanaian youngster completed his transfer to Sporting on Wednesday after sealing a permanent contract from Tamale-based Steadfast FC.<\/p>\n<p>The 18-year-old signed a five-year contract with the Portuguese giants keeping him at the club until June 2027.<\/p>\n<p>Fatawu, who joins the Portuguese champions from the Ghanaian second-tier side, was presented at the Cristiano Ronaldo Academy owned by the club, before declaring that the move will help him attain his mission of reaching the top.<\/p>\n<p><!-- \/22191989129,1002554\/MGL\/mgl_ado_atunwa_300x250 --><\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m very happy to be here, it\u2019s fantastic. They welcomed me very well,\u201d said the Ghanaian youngster who raised eyebrows in recent CAF-organised tournaments.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere are many differences between the football I was playing and Sporting CP. The move will make me grow more. Everyone has helped me, telling me what I have to do.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI also promise to work hard to help the team achieve its goals.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The highly-rated teenager was named overall best player after helping Ghana to win the TotalEnergies U20 Africa Cup of Nations tournament which was held in Mauritania last year.<\/p>\n<p>Fatawu, who also visited the Jose Alvalade Stadium after signing the deal, was eager to praise Ghana football coaches for supporting his career.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Ghanaians believe in me and I had opportunities very early in my career. They made my dream possible and without that, I don\u2019t think I would be here,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/jvxvpfv900mzipxiw71u.jpg\" alt=\"Abdul Fatawu Issahaku of Ghana shoots and scores during the 2021 CAF U20 Africa Cup of Nations football match between Ghana and Gambia at Stade Municipal Nouadhibou, Mauritania on 22 February 2021\"\/><\/figure>\n<p>During the competition in Mauritania, he played all of the\u00a0<em>Black Satellites<\/em>\u2018 matches, scoring two goals in the group stages to help his side win the title for the fourth time in their history.<\/p>\n<p>In March 2021, after his exploits with the U20 side, he was given his first call-up to the Ghana senior squad for the clashes with South Africa and Sao Tome in the 2021 AFCON qualifiers.<\/p>\n<p>Fatawu was subsequently named in the\u00a0<em>Black Stars<\/em>\u00a0squad for the 2021 AFCON in Cameroon.<\/p>\n<p>The teenage sensation was handed starting roles in both legs during Ghana\u2019s World Cup play-off against Nigeria<em>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The attacking midfielder is now hoping that his move will help him cement a place in the Ghana squad for the World Cup in Qatar later this year where they will play Portugal, Uruguay and South Korea in Group H.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/wp5jslzhpurobqlq4tmb.jpg\" alt=\"Raffidine Abdullah of Comoros challenged by Abdul Issahaku of Ghana during the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations Afcon Finals match between Ghana and Comoros at Roumde Adjia Stadium in Garoua, Cameroon, on 18 January 20\"\/><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cThe World Cup is every footballer\u2019s dream,\u201d the youngster said, revealing he has spoken to his new teammates of the Portugal national team about the impending clash with Ghana.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe World Cup is a very big thing and everyone dreams of it. I can\u2019t wait to be there\u201d, Issahaku said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt would be fantastic. I\u2019ve already talked to them (team-mates about Ghana versus Portugal game at the World Cup) and it has everything to be a good game.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ghana will be making their fourth appearance at the Mundial in Qatar this November and Fatawu is expected to make the final squad for the global showpiece.<\/p>\n<p>            <!--  [embed]https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=videoseries[\/embed]<!--\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>--><\/p>\n<div class=\"youtube-embed\" data-video_id=\"7ws4P3RNGsY\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Economic Management: 46%t of NPP supporters believe Ghana\u2019s economy will be worse - TaTU (8-4-22)\" width=\"696\" height=\"392\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/7ws4P3RNGsY?feature=oembed&#038;enablejsapi=1\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Abdul Fatawu Issahaku Reigning Africa U20 best player, Abdul Fatawu Issahaku, says his move to Portuguese giants Sporting Lisbon will help him reach his full potential starting with the 2022 World Cup. The Ghanaian youngster completed his transfer to Sporting on Wednesday after sealing a permanent contract from Tamale-based Steadfast FC. The 18-year-old signed a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1050837,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[262,4552,7278,2015,5123,5120,784],"class_list":["post-1050836","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-cup","tag-eyes","tag-issahaku","tag-joining","tag-lisbon","tag-sporting","tag-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1050836","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1050836"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1050836\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1050836"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1050836"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1050836"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}