Danny Welbeck, the English footballer with Ghanaian heritage, recently shared that some of his family members booed him during his England debut against Ghana in 2011.
Despite efforts by the Ghana Football Association to persuade the then Sunderland striker to represent the Black Stars, Welbeck chose to play for his birth country rather than his parents’ homeland.
Reflecting on his England debut, which took place against Ghana at Wembley Stadium, Welbeck described it as a bittersweet experience due to the boos he received.
“It was crazy. It was like a bittersweet moment. Obviously, I walked out at Wembley, coming on from the sidelines. I had lots of family and friends in the stands, including family from Ghana. And yeah, I’m hearing boos, boos when Welbeck’s coming on, and I’m like, ‘Oh! This is crazy.’ There were so many boos.”
He went on to mention that after the game, his cousins admitted to being among those who had booed him.
“Talking to my cousins after the game, they said, ‘Yeah, we were booing you when you were coming on.'”
The memorable friendly match ended in a 1-1 draw, with Asamoah Gyan scoring a stunning equalizer late in the game after Andy Carroll had given England the lead in the first half.
