Gambia-born forward Kekuta Manneh who has been the subject of attention for quite some time now since moving to Columbus Crew from Vancouver Whitecaps has finally played his first match for his new club.
The 22-year-old saw his debut come to life when he entered the game in the 81st minute in Columbus’ 3-2 loss to New York City FC.
Manneh became disillusioned when he found opportunities hard to come back since making the move on March 30.
He incurred the wrath of head coach Gregg Berhalter after he stated he wasn’t used to being left out from the match day squad though the gaffer said he wanted the former Steve Biko prodigy to be fit along with the rest of the squad.
It required the 5ft 9in wide man to do more conditioning training to regain his fitness and his hard work seemed to have paid off after being finally unleashed against New York.
“I’m just glad that I finally got some minutes and to get that out of the way,” he said after the match at the Mapfre Stadium in Ohio. “Now I can hopefully get some more minutes next game and be a big part of this team going forward.
“Any time I’m on the field I’m happy and I like to enjoy myself while I’m playing and entertain the fans and try to get something out of it and help the team win the game.” Manneh will be hoping for more playing time when his team hosts the New England Revolution on Saturday.
