Wanderers FC flyer Kwabena Appiah-Kubi has confirmed he has been approached by the All Whites, but won’t be making a decision on his future anytime soon.
Australia, Ghana, New Zealand. They-re the options that could present themselves to Wanderers FC flyer Kwabena Appiah-Kubi in the future. Appiah-Kubi confirming exlusively to footballaustralia.com.au that he has been approached by All Whites coach Ricki Herbert and will consider all options.
Born in New Zealand, with Ghanaian heritage and an Australian passport (he moved here at the age of seven) it would seem the options are endless for the talented youngster; and despite having plenty of swagger and flair on and off the pitch, Appiah-Kubi says he is in no hurry to make a decision on his international allegiance, simply confirming Herbert made him an approach and he would keep it in mind.
“He (Herbert) spoke to me after the 2-0 win in Wellington recently, and gave me a lay-out of what playing for the New Zealand national team would be like, how the set up would be,” Appiah-Kubi said.
“I listened to what he had to say and have talked about it with my parents, but I am not really close to making a decision at this stage of my career, but I will keep it in mind.
“At the moment I am not going to make a decision after one season and my first year as a pro and do something I might not want.
“When it comes down to having to choose I-ll make my mind up, I-m not really thinking about it at all, I-m letting my management handle that, I-m just concerned about playing better for the Wanderers.”
The Wanderers of course are the other part of the Appiah-Kubi story, when they announced their first signings the youngster was among the first trio, joining Tarek Elrich and Aaron Mooy on opening day and only some die-hard fans and the most ardent students in the media knew a bit about the former Mariners youth player.
It was a smiling albeit shy Appiah-Kubi who greeted the media that day, he found it hard to believe all the attention was focussed on him at the time, the bright lights leaving him a little shocked.
If they left him shocked then, the journey he and the club were about to embark upon was going to blind him, but as the club has grown in stature so has he, even if he concedes he has to pinch himself at times as the Western Sydney dream has become a reality.
“It-s obviously a fairy-tale,” Appiah-Kubi said, trotting out the cliché with the same grin he displayed on that first day.
“All the boys have worked hard from day one to be where we are now.
“It was a long shot from day one, but I did know that Popa (Tony Popovic) would assemble a good team, we had a lot of triallists in pre-season and sometimes you would think, who will get signed?
“But out of that we have built a premiership-winning squad and a lot of the credit goes to Popa.”
While Appiah-Kubi was happy to lavish the coach with praise, he himself has come a long way. A cameo specialist for much of the season, he has started three games, the last of which was the Sydney derby, when he replaced Youssouf Hersi in the line-up, a man he says has taught him plenty as the club-s experienced players work with the youngsters.
“I have learned a lot, especially from Jerome Polenz and Youssouf Hersi, they have been great for me in helping me become a Hyundai A-League player.
“As a whole I am happy to be part of what we have created, going into the semis and having won the minor premiership, but on a personal basis I could have done things a bit better, could have expressed myself a bit more, but I still have time to work on that and do what I can do.”
With the Premier-s Plate having been won, Appiah-Kubi and the Wanderers are now firmly focussed on winning the Premiership/Championship double in their maiden season, and while it-s now sudden death he says they are not bothered by the prospect or any other team in the competition.
“We-ve beaten every team this season, it doesn-t matter who we play, I genuinely have no preference at all,” he said.
“We will just take it as another game, there is no point taking it as sudden death or having the mindset you could be out; that could hurt us, so it-s just another game.”
