The first English-born goalscorer of Euro 2024 won’t be Harry Kane. It won’t be Jude Bellingham and it won’t be Bukayo Saka.
Before any of them had even stepped on a pitch at this tournament, Switzerland’s Kwadwo Duah had already left his mark.
Duah couldn’t stop smiling throughout his post-match interviews after Switzerland’s 3-1 victory over Hungary. Speaking to the media is something that players tend to regard as a bit of a chore, but when you score a goal in just your second appearance and with your second-ever shot for your country, with less than an hour of previous international playing time to your name, you savour every moment.
Including the 27-year-old in the Switzerland squad was enough of a shock, never mind being named in the starting XI. “It came out of nowhere,” said Duah when Switzerland head coach Murat Yakin named his 26 to take to Germany.
This wasn’t false modesty. Duah has been something of a non-entity, in international football terms at least, for most of his career. He was born in London to Ghanaian parents, but the family left when he was about two and the family settled in Bern. And lest any giddy English fans try to claim him, he doesn’t have any family or many connections in England, beyond the occasional visit.
He joined the youth academy of his home town team, Young Boys, but didn’t make much of an impression on the first team. He spent the following few years on loan at a variety of second-tier Swiss clubs, but wasn’t exactly prolific there, until a season with Wil persuaded St Gallen, in the Swiss Super League, to sign him. A strong season there brought a move to Nurnberg in 2.Bundesliga and last summer, he signed for Ludogorets in Bulgaria.
Kwadwo Duah in action for FC Nurnberg against Arsenal (Christof Stache/ STACHE/AFP via Getty Images)
That is not, with the greatest of respect, the sort of place you would expect to find the star of an international tournament, but he scored 15 goals last season, despite being out with an ankle injury until the end of October. Perhaps most importantly, he featured for them in the Europa Conference League. “Playing in Europe was very important for me,” he said after the game.
And for Yakin, it would appear.
Duah was part of a frankly massive 38-man preliminary squad that Yakin named in May, and the expectation was that he wouldn’t make the final cut. But he survived a couple of culls and made the final 26, picked ahead of former Brighton forward Andi Zeqiri. He played in their friendly against Estonia but didn’t exactly blow anyone’s mind, substituted at half-time in favour of Burnley’s Zeki Amdouni.
But Yakin saw something. In truth, it was almost a choice made out of necessity, given the relative paucity of his other attacking options. Goals have been a problem at the best of times but, with Breel Embolo only just returning from an anterior cruciate ligament injury that kept him out for most of last season and Amdouni enduring a tricky season with Burnley, Yakin needed options. Duah’s versatility was a factor too: he played as a No 9 against Hungary, but he can operate anywhere along the front line.
Kwadwo Duah’s goal was popular with his teammates (Javier Soriano/AFP via Getty Images)
Even Swiss captain Granit Xhaka admitted that he was surprised at the team Yakin picked but, perhaps more importantly, it flummoxed Hungary coach Marco Rossi too.
Two days before the game, Yakin’s assistant Giorgio Contini told Duah he would be playing. They wanted to use his pace to get behind a sometimes sluggish Hungary defence. And it worked after only 12 minutes, from a move that started slowly with Xhaka and Manuel Akanji passing the ball between themselves in defence, but quickened and sliced through the Hungarians with ease.
Michel Aebischer slipped the pass between the Hungarian centre-backs, Duah zipped into the area and slotted the finish past Peter Gulasci. The flag went up, and it briefly looked like a brilliant moment had been taken away from us. But after a quick check from the video assistant referee, it became obvious that at least one defender was playing him onside.
When the on-pitch referee pointed to the centre circle, Duah bolted towards the bench, leaping up and down and punching the air. “I thought it might be offside,” Duah said afterwards, “but then the referee gave the goal, I was overjoyed.
“I’m still dreaming. Second international match, first goal — I’m exploding inside and very happy. I dedicate the goal to everyone who believed in me. Above all to the coach. It’s not a given that you’ll invite a player who plays in Bulgaria.”
Kwadwo Duah scores against Hungary (Javier Soriano/AFP via Getty Images)
Despite his late entry to the Swiss squad, Duah seems like a popular man. “A great boy, very pleasant, relaxed and ice-cold in front of goal,” said Xhaka after the game. “He not only convinced me, but also many other players.
“He is a completely different type of striker from the ones we usually have. Strikers need to score, and he scored — what more can you ask for?”
He credits his girlfriend and family for getting him through a tough time in his career before moving to Wil. He’s also a big comic book fan. “Donald Duck, Mickey Mouse,” he said a few years ago. “It’s an unusual hobby, I know. But it calms me down. I like to read them on the team bus.”
Duah, in that way footballers tend to after a big moment like this, presumably to try and ensure their emotions don’t veer too violently either way, was cautious. “It’s just a goal,” he said. “I need to continue, get better.”
But to say this was “just a goal” would do it a disservice. Duah’s international career might be short-lived and his strike against Hungary might not stick in the collective consciousness for particularly long but he provided one of the moments that compel us to watch international tournaments — a previously unknown player, however briefly, becoming a star.
That’s more than just a goal.
(Top photo: Javier Soriano/AFP via Getty Images)