{"id":271792,"date":"2024-12-28T07:02:09","date_gmt":"2024-12-28T07:02:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/12\/28\/youngster-alex-opoku-sarfo-ranked-15th-best-u21-defensive-midfielder-worldwide\/"},"modified":"2024-12-28T07:02:09","modified_gmt":"2024-12-28T07:02:09","slug":"youngster-alex-opoku-sarfo-ranked-15th-best-u21-defensive-midfielder-worldwide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/12\/28\/youngster-alex-opoku-sarfo-ranked-15th-best-u21-defensive-midfielder-worldwide\/","title":{"rendered":"Youngster Alex Opoku Sarfo ranked 15th best U21 defensive midfielder Worldwide"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"article-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.ghanaweb.com\/imagelib\/pics\/708\/70865512.295.jpg\" alt=\"Ghanaian youngster Alex Opoku Sarfo\" title=\"Ghanaian youngster Alex Opoku Sarfo\" width=\"295\" height=\"269\" \/> <span class=\"image_caption\"><span>Ghanaian youngster Alex Opoku Sarfo<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"-webkit-user-select: none; -webkit-touch-callout: none; -moz-user-select: none; -ms-user-select: none; user-select: none;\">\n<p id=\"article-123\">Ghanaian youngster Alex Opoku Sarfo has been included in the CIES (International Centre for Sports Studies) list as the 15th-best U21 defensive or holding midfielder in the world at present.<\/p>\n<p>Ranked among the elite holding midfielders, his recognition highlights his immense talent, discipline, and hard work on the field.<\/p>\n<p>Defensive midfielders play a pivotal role in modern football, often dictating the rhythm of play and ensuring their team retains balance in transitions.<\/p>\n<p>Sarfo\u2019s ability to read the game, recover possession, and launch counterattacks has set him apart from his peers.<\/p>\n<p>Representing Aris Limassol, his performances have evidently caught the eyes of football analysts globally, as reflected in his position on this prestigious list.<\/p>\n<p>At just 20 years of age, Sarfo has displayed maturity beyond his years, competing with and outshining some of the biggest names in the sport.<\/p>\n<p>This acknowledgment from CIES not only recognizes his current form but also emphasizes his potential for even greater achievements in the future.<\/p>\n<p>This report presents the players from 65 leagues born in 2004 or later who performed the best during the ongoing season or the one just completed for leagues organized over the calendar year.<\/p>\n<p>The former Benab FC star has been integral for Aris in the Cypriot League this season, with 14 appearances, making the team of the week once in the process.<\/p>\n<p><b>Below are the CIES rankings for U21 holding midfielders:<\/b><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.ghanaweb.com\/imagelib\/pics\/716\/71694772.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ghanaian youngster Alex Opoku Sarfo Ghanaian youngster Alex Opoku Sarfo has been included in the CIES (International Centre for Sports Studies) list as the 15th-best U21 defensive or holding midfielder in the world at present. Ranked among the elite holding midfielders, his recognition highlights his immense talent, discipline, and hard work on the field. Defensive [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":271793,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-271792","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Youngster Alex Opoku Sarfo ranked 15th best U21 defensive midfielder Worldwide - Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/12\/28\/youngster-alex-opoku-sarfo-ranked-15th-best-u21-defensive-midfielder-worldwide\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Youngster Alex Opoku Sarfo ranked 15th best U21 defensive midfielder Worldwide - Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Ghanaian youngster Alex Opoku Sarfo Ghanaian youngster Alex Opoku Sarfo has been included in the CIES (International Centre for Sports Studies) list as the 15th-best U21 defensive or holding midfielder in the world at present. Ranked among the elite holding midfielders, his recognition highlights his immense talent, discipline, and hard work on the field. Defensive [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/12\/28\/youngster-alex-opoku-sarfo-ranked-15th-best-u21-defensive-midfielder-worldwide\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-12-28T07:02:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/70865512.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"547\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ghana News\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ghana News\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/12\\\/28\\\/youngster-alex-opoku-sarfo-ranked-15th-best-u21-defensive-midfielder-worldwide\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/12\\\/28\\\/youngster-alex-opoku-sarfo-ranked-15th-best-u21-defensive-midfielder-worldwide\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Ghana News\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c70749f3edfbfcd92d45e933f0fe10b5\"},\"headline\":\"Youngster Alex Opoku Sarfo ranked 15th best U21 defensive midfielder Worldwide\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-12-28T07:02:09+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/12\\\/28\\\/youngster-alex-opoku-sarfo-ranked-15th-best-u21-defensive-midfielder-worldwide\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":244,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/12\\\/28\\\/youngster-alex-opoku-sarfo-ranked-15th-best-u21-defensive-midfielder-worldwide\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/12\\\/70865512.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Sports\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/12\\\/28\\\/youngster-alex-opoku-sarfo-ranked-15th-best-u21-defensive-midfielder-worldwide\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/12\\\/28\\\/youngster-alex-opoku-sarfo-ranked-15th-best-u21-defensive-midfielder-worldwide\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/12\\\/28\\\/youngster-alex-opoku-sarfo-ranked-15th-best-u21-defensive-midfielder-worldwide\\\/\",\"name\":\"Youngster Alex Opoku Sarfo ranked 15th best U21 defensive midfielder Worldwide - 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