Following the glorious conclusion of the African Cup of Nations 2023 (AFCON) tournament, where host nation, Ivory Coast scooped the ultimate trophy on Sunday, many of the nation’s national stars have been shining in spotlights; from the likes of Haller to Diakite, one such star that shines brightly is the Ivorian attacker, Simon Adingra, who contributed massively to the victory.
Formerly hailing from the Right to Dream Academy, Adingra made an impressive feat on his first call up in the AFCON, going on to win the award of the Best Young Player in the tournament. His story is one to draw inspiration from, a dream coming true for the youngster.
The Beginning
Simon Adingra was born on January 1, 2002 in Yamoussoukro, the capital of Ivory Coast. During his early years, he lived with his sister in Yamoussoukro before moving to the northern suburb area of Abidjan, Abobo.
At Abobo, Adingra lived with his mother and sister who played a significant role in his upbringing.
He grew up loving football due to the bustling street football activities in Abobo, drawing inspiration from many iconic Ivorian footballers, including the legendary Didier Drogba.
Early difficulties in life
At the age of 12, the passion for football and desire for Simon to fulfill his dream of a professional footballer saw him leave his homeland, Ivory Coast to the Benin Republic.
At this early stage of his young career, Adingra’s mother placed her trust in a coach who took an amount of money to take Adingra to his academy in Benin.
His trust in the coach was eventually backstabbed as he found himself scammed and hoodwinked by the coach.
Adingra found himself in an environment that he knew little about and had to rely on his own resources and strength to get by.
Ultimately, Simon made his way back to Ivory where a new chapter began with the discovery by Ghanaian based Right to Dream academy, making a turning point in his career.
Adingra at Right to Dream Academy
Right to Dream is an academy which was established in 1999 by Tom Vernon, former Manchester United’s head scout stationed in Africa.
Following a frustrating experience of being duped by a football coach, fate at last called. Through the detecting tournament, Simon Adingra was discovered and eventually made his way to the esteemed Right to Dream Academy. Only eighteen young boys were selected annually from thousands of applicants for this tournament. Adingra was one of the eighteen selected, a fortunate and diligent young man.
A memorable occasion during his tenure at Right to Dream was leading his squad to victory over global competitors, the Nigerian TikiTaka Academy. Adingra’s team went on to win the Gothia Cup U17 trophy through the victory. The young man realized his aspirations of travelling to Europe were becoming more real after he assisted his team in winning this prize.
Adingra’s Road to Europe
As Right to Dream grew, it became a haven for African youth who wanted to play football in Europe. Years after founding the team, former Manchester United scout Tom Vernon acquired ownership of Nordsjaelland, a Danish team. He cleared the path for rising stars of Right to Dream, including Adingra, who swiftly completed hid voyage to Europe.
Adingra’s EPL journey
Adingra’s impressive performance in the Danish league attracted Graham Potter, a former Brighton boss. Potter advocated for Brighton to sign Adingra to a four-year contract four months before he moved from Brighton to Chelsea.
Brighton made the decision to loan Adingra to its sister club, Union Saint-Gilloise, in Belgium since it had two senior left-wing options in Leandro Trossard and Kaoru Mitoma.
With Union Saint-Gilloise, Simon Adingra saw a spectacular climb to fame. His resume of 11 goals along with his outstanding performance enabled Union SG to advance to a Champions League.
Simon Adingra was called back from loan by the Brighton boss, Roberto De Zerbi to take Leandro Trossard’s place after he left for Arsenal.
Adingra scored 5 goals and 3 assists in 23 appearances in all competitions for Roberto De Zerbi’s side.
Adingra’s AFCON heroic performances
Despite suffering from a hamstring injury and being sidelined for some period of time, the gaffer Jean-Louis Gasset decided to count on the services of Simon Adingra.
Adingra could not feature in any of the first two games for Ivory Coast due to injury.
He eventually made his AFCON debut in a match in which the margin of error for Ivory Coast was zero but they ended up losing the match in a bizarre faction as they were humiliated by Equatorial in a 4-nil defeat in front of their home fans.
The heroic work of Adingra began in the quarter-final match against Mali in which his dying ember’s goal helped Ivory Coast to win during extra time at the Stade De la Paix Stadium in Bouake.
Adingra was instrumental in Ivory’s Coast triumph over Nigeria and was a hard nut to crack for the defenders of Nigeria in the AFCON final showpiece.
After the Super Eagles took the lead in the final, Adingra assisted Frank Kessie in the equalizing goal in the 62nd minute of the game.
In the 81st minute of the game, Adinkra put the Nigerians in an emotional mangle after assisting Sebastien Haller to give Ivory Coast the ultimate goal which helped Ivory Coast to clinch their 3rd AFCON trophy.
The two assists from Adingra helped Ivory Coast to secure their 3rd AFCON trophy and also became the 9th African country to win AFCON as the host nation.
It is no doubt Simon Adingra won the Best Young Player of the tournament.
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Story by: Rabbi Adu Agyei | univers.ug.edu.gh
