Bristol City forward Antoine Semenyo made his World Cup bow for Ghana against Portugal on Thursday, four-and-a-half years on from scoring a hat-trick in a Somerset Cup quarter-final.
In four short years Antoine Semenyo has gone from playing for sixth-tier Bath City in the Somerset Cup to representing Ghana at the most prestigious tournament in all of sport … how’s that for career development?
The London-born 22-year-old, who can play both up front and off the flank, only made his debut for the Black Stars in June but squeezed into Otto Addo’s 26-man squad for the World Cup after making a flying start to the season at Championship side Bristol City.
He was brought on as a second half substitute during Ghana’s 3-2 defeat to Portugal on Thursday as his side went in search of a late equaliser – and got a front row seat for Inaki Williams’ agonising slip in the dying moments.
Semenyo signed for Bristol City as a 17-year-old in 2017 but after finding first-team minutes hard to come by he was farmed out on loan to National League South side Bath.
There he got some much-needed game-time under his belt, and with his confidence flowing the goals started doing the same. He scored six in 16 games for the Romans, including a memorable hat-trick in an 8-1 Somerset Cup quarter-final tie against (the mighty) Welton Rovers.
He then started climbing the ladder, getting loaned to League Two outfit Newport County the following season, and the year after that to League One side Sunderland, before returning to Ashton Gate for the 2020/21 season