Kwasi Poku

Last updated

Kwasi Poku
Personal information
Date of birth (2003-02-06) February 6, 2003 (age 20)
Place of birth Brampton, Ontario, Canada
Height 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Forge FC
Number 20
Youth career
Brampton East SC
Woodbridge Strikers
Unionville Milliken SC
Toronto FC
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
2021 Toronto FC III 4 (0)
2021 Toronto FC II 1 (0)
2022– Forge FC 40 (3)
2023 → Sigma FC (loan) 1 (0)
International career‡
2022– Canada U20 5 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of October 7, 2023
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of June 26, 2022

Kwasi Poku (born February 6, 2003) is a Canadian soccer player who currently plays for Forge FC.

Contents

Early life

Poku began playing youth soccer at age six with Brampton East SC. [1] He later played youth soccer with the Woodbridge Strikers, with whom he won the 2017 U14 Ontario Indoor Cup, scoring a hat-trick against Ottawa St. Anthony. [2] He was also part of the provincial Team Ontario that year. [3] He later played for Unionville Milliken SC. [4] He later joined the Toronto FC Academy. [5]

Club career

In 2021, he played with Toronto FC III in the League1 Ontario Summer Championship division making his debut on July 31 against Alliance United. [6] After the season, he joined the second team Toronto FC II in USL League One. He made his debut on October 1, 2021 against North Carolina FC. [7] In February 2022, he departed the Toronto FC organization. [8]

In February 2022, he signed a professional contract with Canadian Premier League side Forge FC. [9] He made his debut for his new club on February 16 in a 2022 CONCACAF Champions League match against Cruz Azul. [10] [11] Poku scored his first goal on October 9, 2022 in a 1-0 victory over HFX Wanderers FC. [12] In January 2023, Poku went on trial with Swedish Allsvenskan club BK Häcken. [13]

In 2023, he played one game on loan with Forge's affiliate Sigma FC in League1 Ontario. [14] In later September 2023, he was named the CPL player of the week. [15] At the end of the 2023 season, he was nominated for the CPL U21 Player of the Year award. [16] [17] In October of the same year, he helped Forge win their fourth league title, following a 2–1 win over Cavalry FC in the play-off final. [18] [19]

International career

Born in Canada, Poku is of Ghanaian descent. [20] In April 2022, he was called up to the Canadian Under-20 team for two matches against Costa Rica. [21] In June 2022, he was named to the Canadian U-20 team for the 2022 CONCACAF U-20 Championship. [22] He appeared in all four of the team's matches, playing a total of 385 minutes, prior to their elimination in the round of 16. [23]

Career statistics

As of October 28, 2023 [24]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
ClubSeasonLeaguePlayoffsDomestic CupContinentalTotal
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Toronto FC III 2021 [6] League1 Ontario Summer Championship40–––40
Toronto FC II 2021 USL League One 10—––10
Forge FC 2022 Canadian Premier League 191103 [lower-alpha 1] 020251
2023 2122010—242
Total403304020493
Sigma FC (loan) 2023 [14] League1 Ontario 10–––10
Career total463304020553
  1. ↑ Includes appearance in the 2020 Canadian Championship final (played in 2022)

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References

  1. ↑ Kwasi Poku at the Canadian Soccer Association
  2. ↑ "Kwasi Poku Leads Woodbridge Strikers to U-14 Boys Ontario Indoor Cup Title". Ontario Soccer Association . January 26, 2017.
  3. ↑ "Team Ontario U14 Boys" (PDF). Ontario Soccer Association .
  4. ↑ Motta Silva, Nicolas (November 16, 2018). "BMO Champions CUP: Day One and Two Recap". Toronto FC .
  5. ↑ "Forge FC signs ex-HFX midfielder Sissoko, local product Poku". Canadian Premier League . February 2, 2022.
  6. 1 2 "Kwasi Poku 2021 L1O Stats". League1 Ontario .
  7. ↑ Martin, Hannah (October 1, 2021). "Match Recap: North Carolina FC Fall to Toronto FC II on the Road". North Carolina FC .
  8. ↑ Molinaro, John (October 26, 2023). "Ex-TFC academy product Kwasi Poku set for CPL Final with Forge". TFC Republic.
  9. ↑ "Forge FC Sign Midfielders Sissoko & Poku". Forge FC . February 2, 2022.
  10. ↑ "Brampton's Kwasi Poku impresses despite Forge loss". Brampton Soccer. February 17, 2022.
  11. ↑ Urciuoli, Anthony (August 11, 2022). "'Ready for a little bit of everything:' Kwasi Poku makes big strides in first pro season". Forge FC .
  12. ↑ Myrer, George (October 9, 2022). "HFX Wanderers' disappointing season comes to a close with loss to Forge". SaltWire Network .
  13. ↑ Jacques, John (January 17, 2023). "Forge's Poku On Trial With BK Hacken". Northern Tribune.
  14. 1 2 "Kwasi Poku 2023 L1O Stats". League1 Ontario .
  15. ↑ "Kwasi Poku Named CPL Player of the Week for Week 24". Forge FC . September 26, 2023.
  16. ↑ "Kwasi Poku Nominated for Best Canadian Under-21 Player". Forge FC . October 17, 2023.
  17. ↑ "Cameron, De Brienne, Poku nominated for Best Canadian U-21 Player Award". Canadian Premier League . October 17, 2023.
  18. ↑ Wharnsby, Tim (October 28, 2023). "Borges scores 'Olimpico' goal as Forge FC completes comeback to win 4th CPL title". CBC. Retrieved October 29, 2023.
  19. ↑ Tierney, Mitchell (October 28, 2023). "HIGHLIGHTS + ANALYSIS: Forge wins 2023 North Star Cup, defeating Cavalry to lift fourth playoff crown (Oct. 28, 2023)". OneSoccer. Retrieved October 29, 2023.
  20. ↑ "Canadian-born Ghanaian youngster Kwasi Poku on trials at BK Häcken". Kick GH. January 17, 2023.
  21. ↑ "Bontis & Poku called up to the men's U20 national team camp in Costa Rica". Forge FC . April 5, 2022.
  22. ↑ O'Connor-Clarke, Charlie (June 10, 2022). "6 CPLers named to Canada squad for Concacaf Men's U-20 Championship". Canadian Premier League.
  23. ↑ Gangué-Ruzic, Alexandre (September 9, 2023). "'I'm excited to see what's next': After brief taste of Europe, Forge's Kwasi Poku eager to be latest CPL export". OneSoccer .
  24. ↑ Kwasi Poku at Soccerway
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