Harrison Afful

Harrison Afful (born 24 July 1986) is a Ghanaian footballer who plays as a fullback.

A free agent, he most recently played for Major League Soccer club Charlotte FC.

He appeared previously for Feyenoord Academy, Espérance de Tunis, and Columbus Crew and spent time on loan at Asante Kotoko.

Afful came through the youth setup at the Feyenoord Academy, spending his first two professional seasons with the academy's senior team.

He then moved on loan to Asante Kotoko, spending two seasons with the Porcupines and winning the Ghana Premier League in 2007–08.

After four years of professional football, Afful left Ghana for the first time to join Espérance de Tunis of the Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1.

He played the next six seasons with Tunis, appearing for the club more than 180 times.

He made his league debut for the club and scored in a 3–0 victory against All Blacks on 2 December 2007.

Afful was named as the league's Player of the Year as Asante Kotoko won the Ghana Premier League title in 2007–08.

Upon the expiration of his initial one-year loan, he returned to the Feyenoord Academy and undertook multiple trials in Europe and elsewhere in Africa.

At the international level, Afful made his Ghanaian debut at the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations, helping Ghana to a third-place finish at that tournament.

Afful underwent a trial with Feyenoord, the parent club of the academy, in 2008.

However, after four weeks, he was released without a contract and was informed that he was deemed too small.

He also spent time training with Stabæk, Helsingborgs IF, and Mamelodi Sundowns but returned to Ghana after failing to land a contract.

Following the Feyenoord Academy's relegation to the Division One League, Afful returned to the Ghana Premier League with a loan to Asante Kotoko.

The move was made possible through a clause in Jordan Opoku's contract.

He had been bought by Kotoko the year before, and his contract allowed Asante Kotoko to choose one player to bring in on loan from the academy.

They exercised it by choosing Afful.

Afful impressed Kotoko head coach Bashir Hayford with his performance during a 10-minute cameo in a friendly match, allowing him to break into the first team after initially appearing to be outside Hayford's plans.

Those trials proved unsuccessful, and Afful returned to Asante Kotoko on loan for the second half of the 2008–09 season.

He finished his time on loan with five goals from 68 appearances in all competitions.

Upon the expiration of his loan deal, Kotoko reportedly opened talks for a permanent transfer, but were unable to reach a deal with the academy.

On 25 August 2009, Afful officially signed a three-year contract with Tunisian club Espérance de Tunis (EST).

He had trained with the club prior to the announcement and had scored a goal in a friendly match, helping convince Tunis to complete the signing.

He made his debut for EST on 12 September, playing the full 90 minutes in a 4–0 victory over CS Sfaxien.

He appeared for the Black Stars at four more AFCON tournaments, finishing as runners-up in 2010 and 2015.

Afful scored his first two goals for the club in a three-match span in the spring of 2010, tallying against CA Bizertin on 28 April and ES Hammam-Sousse on 15 May.

He finished the season with two goals from 23 appearances in all competitions as Tunis claimed their second consecutive Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1 (CLP-1) title.

In his second season at Espérance de Tunis, Afful did not play a large role in league play.

He appeared 17 times without a goal as the Blood and Gold claimed their third consecutive league title, but did start in the Tunisian Cup final as Tunis defeated Étoile du Sahel.

Instead, he became a fixture in the Tunis squad in 2010 CAF Champions League play.

Afful made his debut in the tournament on 16 July 2010, appearing in Group A play against ES Sétif.

Tunis won four league titles during Afful's time there, appeared in three CAF Champions League finals, and won the 2011 CAF Champions League Final; Afful scored the only goal over the two legs.

He was called up to Ghana's squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup, appearing twice during the tournament.

In the summer of 2015, Afful moved to the United States and signed for Columbus, helping the club reach MLS Cup 2015 in his first season.

Afful captained his nation for the first time in a friendly against Congo on 1 September 2015.

Born in Tema, Ghana, Afful grew up 23 km away in Nungua.

He used to watch the Ghana national team on television before becoming a professional footballer.

Afful joined the Feyenoord Academy after being discovered as a youth by Sam Arday.

He rose through the youth ranks to the first team, appearing 148 times and scoring 11 goals in all competitions for the academy.