塞梅尼奥：加纳想要证明我们是一个顶尖国家。
这位加纳球星向国际足联讲述了他如何成名、他引以为豪的家族背景、面对英格兰以及想要创造历史的愿望。
安托万·塞梅尼奥一直在与国际足联进行对话。
加纳前锋回顾自己迅速崛起之路
相信这个国家可以在北美做“特别的事情”。
当安托万·塞梅尼奥前往2022年卡塔尔世界杯时，他或许会认为自己已经达到了职业生涯的巅峰。毕竟，在他因不满现状而退出足球界五年多之后，他就踏上了这项体育界最高级别赛事的征程。
“11岁到15岁之间，我去过不少青训营，比如阿森纳、托特纳姆热刺、切尔西、富勒姆、米尔沃尔。15岁的时候，我最后一次去水晶宫试训，”他在接受国际足联独家采访时说道。“我在那里待了两个月，没被录取，当时我很沮丧，因为没有球队签下我。最后我放弃了足球，专心学习。我放弃了一年的足球生涯，享受着普通人的生活。”
离开赛场一年后，在南格洛斯特郡和斯特劳德学院男子体育主管、前利兹联队教练戴夫·霍卡戴的劝说下，他决定重返赛场。塞梅尼奥在一系列与职业青训营的友谊赛中表现出色，这促使布里斯托尔城在2017年签下了他。
随后他先后被租借至巴斯城、纽波特和桑德兰，并在2020/21赛季迎来突破，出场50次，攻入7球。接下来的赛季，塞梅尼奥在32场英冠联赛中贡献了20个进球和助攻。这样的表现引起了加纳国家队的注意，他们在2022年5月将他召入队中，备战非洲杯预选赛。尽管他一生都生活在英格兰，但能够代表父母的出生地出战对他来说无疑是最佳选择。
“我的父母是地地道道的加纳人。他们从来没提过英格兰的事，”他坦言。“当然，生活在英国，你会听到这样的话：‘哦，你应该代表英格兰’。但我真的从来没想过这个问题。加纳在我19、20岁的时候加入进来，所以我根本不可能拒绝。”
“我觉得观看加纳队参加世界杯的比赛非常特别。爸爸妈妈、叔叔阿姨、堂表兄弟姐妹们都聚集到一起，我们一起观看所有比赛，庆祝、呐喊，各种情绪交织在一起。那种感觉太棒了——真的非常特别。”
距离塞梅尼奥在对阵马达加斯加的比赛中首次亮相仅仅五个多月后，他的家人就亲眼见证了这位球员在国际赛场上的风采。尽管在加纳黑星队于卡塔尔小组赛出局的比赛中，他仅替补出场两次，总共只踢了19分钟，但塞梅尼奥相信这次赛事对他和球队都将大有裨益。
“It was very surreal,” he admitted. “At that time, I was still at Bristol City, so it was so special. But I feel like now, I just want to prove – and we all want to prove – that we're a top nation. Since that last World Cup, a bit of experience has come in. I feel mentally a lot stronger, I feel healthy and I'm 100 per cent. So I want to contribute the best way I can.”
Semenyo moved to Bournemouth in January 2023 and quickly became a hit with the Cherries faithful. His rise continued from there, with Manchester City parting with more than £60m for his services earlier this year. Now a regular for one of the biggest clubs in the world, the deciding goalscorer in the FA Cup final, and on the brink of playing at the FIFA World Cup 2026™, Semenyo is a world away from where he was just a decade earlier.
“It’s surreal to be honest. I speak to my friends about it all the time. I didn't think I would ever make it this far,” Semenyo stated. “I thought just being a professional was enough – signing for Bristol City was enough for me. So, to say that I'm going to (another) World Cup… yeah, it's amazing.”
You can read more from our interview with Antoine Semenyo below.
Antoine Semenyo: It will just feel normal. I don't think I'll feel anything. I think if anything, I'll just want to win, and just prove that we can compete with the top nations. I don't think it changes anything for me, but I know playing against my friends, I want to prove my point. I want to show that we are a top nation, we can play together, and we can beat all the top teams.
When we played against Germany in 2010, I think we lost (1-0). We played so well. Obviously, Germany had great quality and ended up scoring, but I just remember that game vividly. Just like: 'Wow, we're actually a top nation. We can compete with all of these nations'. Obviously, the Uruguay game I remember quite well. I watched that game with my family. I remember being at my uncle's house and we were screaming. After the (Luis Suarez) handball, thinking: 'Oh my God, we're going through'. And then obviously, the penalty (taken by Asamoah Gyan with the last kick of the game) was missed. But we still competed well.
We were so frustrated that we didn't qualify. It was very, very tough. But I feel like we've rectified that in terms of qualifying for the World Cup. But, we're not just coming to the World Cup, we want to compete on all levels. I feel like everyone in the team is ready to go. For us, we can compete with these teams. It's just [about] winning games, having fun and showing the nation what we can do.
We've got the backing of our nation, for one. Obviously, loads of prayers and blessings over the team, but we've got a good management staff, we've got good background staff, and everyone is just so positive and confident, and that gives us the positivity to go out on the pitch and do what we need to do and win games. So, it plays a massive part and definitely goes a long way. I feel like we've got a lot of attacking talent and killer instincts. A lot of players that just want to get in positions and shoot and score. Defensively we're solid as well. We work together as a team.
I think that's the intention. I feel like we do want to write our own story. We've got such a good team, and we just need to prove to the world that we can be up there and compete with everyone else. I feel like that's the only question right now, so once we do that, that'll be the story written. I don't want to jinx anything but I think, for me personally, getting through the group stage would be a start for us. I feel like we can go on and do special things.