Kolja Afriyie

Kolja Afriyie (born 6 April 1982) is a German former professional footballer who played as a right-back. He holds both a Ghanaian passport and a German passport.

Kolja Afriyie
Afriyie with FC Midtjylland in May 2008
Personal information
Date of birth (1982-04-06) 6 April 1982
Place of birth Flensburg, West Germany
Height 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Position(s) Right-back
Youth career
0000–1998 DGF Flensborg
1998–2000 Hamburger SV
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
0000–2000 Hamburger SV II
2000–2004 AC Horsens 14 (0)
2004–2006 Esbjerg fB 54 (4)
2006–2010 FC Midtjylland 100 (4)
2010–2011 Energie Cottbus 15 (0)
2011–2014 FC Midtjylland 58 (0)
National team
2002–2003 Germany U-21 4 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Club career

Kolja Afriyie was born the son of a Ghanaian father and a German mother in Flensburg. He grew up in Flensburg and also visited in Flensburg both a kindergarten and a school that is part of the Danish minority. Playing football, he joined the DGF Flensborg, which also belongs to the Danish minority. In 1998, he joined the youth academy of Hamburger SV, but the contract was canceled again in 2000 because "of performance reasons" and because of school problems.[1]

In 2001, he moved to Denmark, signing a contract with AC Horsens. In Horsens, he was initially part of the reserve team, but he quickly rose in the first team and was a top performer.[1] In the summer of 2004, Afriyie moved to Danish Superliga club Esbjerg fB. His greatest games in his Esbjerg career were Intertoto Cup matches against FC Schalke 04.[2] In 2006, he moved to Superliga rivals FC Midtjylland in Herning. On 28 October 2008, he signed a new contract keeping him at FC Midtjylland until 30 June 2011. On 22 June 2010, he left FC Midtjylland and returned to Germany to sign with FC Energie Cottbus.[3] Only a year later, he broke up his contract and left the club.[4] A short time later, he returned to FC Midtjylland. In May 2014, Afriyie retired his career at the age of 32 years.

International career

Afriyie had played for the Schleswig-Holstein-selection and was discovered by Jürgen Kohler in the framework of the country Tournament of 2002.[1] On 12 August 2002, Afriyie was first invited by Jürgen Kohler for the U-21 national team of Germany when he was nominated for the friendly against Italy in Grosseto.[5] On 20 August 2002, he appeared as a substitute in this game 88 minutes for Andreas Hinkel.[6]

Personal life

His father comes from Ghana, his mother is German, he is the brother of Kwaku Afriyie.

References
  1. Müller, Thiemo (15 August 2002). "Afriyie über Dänemark zum DFB". kicker online (in German). Olympia Verlag GmbH. Retrieved 12 February 2015.
  2. "Kolja Afriyie" (in Danish). FC Midtjylland. 21 August 2006. Retrieved 22 February 2012.
  3. "Zweijahresvertrag für Takahito Soma" (in German). kicker.de. 22 June 2010. Retrieved 22 February 2012.
  4. "Adlung kennt kein Pardon". kicker online (in German). Olympia Verlag GmbH. 22 July 2011. Retrieved 12 February 2015.
  5. "Afriyie und Schlicke die einzigen Neuen". kicker online (in German). Olympia Verlag GmbH. 15 August 2002. Retrieved 12 February 2015.
  6. "Auers Doppelpack - Jürgen Kohlers Debüt geglückt". kicker online (in German). Olympia Verlag GmbH. 20 August 2002. Retrieved 12 February 2015.


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