Nathaniel Amoah had more or less retired from playing football last season after he ended up in the second Under-19 team of Zeeburgia due to a disagreement with the head of youth training. It was actually the intention that the eighteen-year-old wing defender would play with third divisionist DVS’33 in Ermelo this year, only instead he was on the training field a few weeks ago with Dries Mertens and Kalidou Koulibaly. By a strange twist of fate, Amoah not only ended up in Italy last summer, but he was also picked up by Napoli at the very last moment in an ‘amateur game’.

By Chris Meijer

With a mix of tension and Amsterdam bluff, Amoah entered the dressing room of the Napoli main force for a few weeks. The first top player he encountered was Dries Mertens. ‘Ciao’, the Belgian attacker spoke to Amoah. ‘Hey, are you all right?’, Mertens was told back. “He was a bit shocked, started to laugh and we had a conversation. When I told my story, he said, “You were really lucky. You just have to do your best and if you couldn’t play football, you weren’t here ”, says Amoah with a smile. The next to pass the young Dutchman was Kalidou Koulibaly. The imposing defender did not see him at first, however, until a teammate pointed out that his ‘fratello’ (brother in Italian) was on the training field.

Amoah poses with Kalidou Koulibaly.

“What’s your name?” He said to me. He asked me if I was of Ghanaian descent, apparently he could see that in my face. We had a chat and at one point he said: ‘If someone says something to you that you don’t like, come to me’. ” At the end of the training, Amoah’s sweat broke out briefly, when Koulibaly dismissed Fabian Ruiz as his direct opponent when practicing standard situations. ‘Go, go, I want to stand with Nathan’, said Koulibaly, ‘Nathan, today you won’t score a goal’. “I had to laugh and assured him that I would score. There was a cross from Victor Osimhen, I walked away from Koulibaly and hit the header. ‘You won’t score again’, he said with a laugh. Then we had to trade and he said he would score with his right, while he is left. Well, that eventually happened. ”

Amoah was also left with a pair of football boots from his first practice session, after a won bet with goalkeeper Alex Meret. “He told me I wouldn’t score anymore. “Okay, but if I score, I want your shoes,” I told him. I scored, so I went to him after practice and did indeed get his football boots. ” After the practice session, Amoah received compliments from Mertens, while he spoke with Koulibaly in the dressing room. ‘You shouldn’t care about racism. If you play well, everyone will love you, ‘he was told. But one man made the most impression during the first training with the first team: trainer Gennaro Gattuso. “That was impressive, he shouts a lot and immediately knew my name. I was a bit shocked about that. We had to walk in circles and I walked with Osimhen in the middle, talking a little. At one point he shouted: ‘Nathan! Vai! Vai! ‘ He is quite aggressive in terms of working method, which is something different. ”

Stopped
The fact that Amoah can now talk about experiences with Mertens, Koulibaly, Osimhen and Gattuso seemed like a utopia two months ago. And even a utopia is weakly expressed in this case. The defender played his entire football life in the Netherlands with the amateurs, successively Zuidvogels, sv Huizen and Zeeburgia. At the latter top amateur club from Amsterdam he started in the Under-17, but he played in the second Under-19 team last season after a difference of opinion with the head of youth academies. “I didn’t really have the motivation to train and play matches because of that. Actually I was never there, I kind of quit, ”Amoah confesses. Nevertheless, it was precisely in that year that he got the necessary opportunities at professional clubs, where he had only really been close at the age of thirteen with an internship at FC Utrecht.

Amoah completed internships at Go Ahead Eagles, Westerlo and was also allowed to complete a trial period at PSV at the beginning of this calendar year, although it was canceled due to an ankle injury. The Belgian club actually wanted to bring him in, but that switch ended the consequences of the corona crisis. Last summer, Amoah trained at the Kbeyoung Academy, having enrolled for this season with third divisionist DVS’33. “My father always said: ‘When you are eighteen and you are not playing a professional club yet, you have to focus on school’. My mother kept pushing me to get the most out of it and keep going. I didn’t really have the faith in it, I thought: football is not really for me. Also because I was just not hired after internships. Or got injured just before I was allowed to do an internship, like at PSV. ”

Smoking in the locker room
How Amoah ended up at Napoli is as amazing as the step itself. That started with a message from his niece, who had heard that he had done an internship at Westerlo and asked him for video images. She had a cousin who was an agent and was impressed by the images of Amoah. Pretty soon, agent Foster Debrah came up with an internship opportunity in Italy, at Serie D club Seregno. However, the trial period in Seregno, just north of Milan, did not go entirely as he expected. “The house where I was, the players, the people: I didn’t really like it. For example, people smoked in the locker room before and after training. I told my agent after the first week that I wanted to go home, but he encouraged me to continue. ”

“Italian football is very different from the Netherlands, a right back is expected to cover the entire flank. They often play with three defenders. The first weeks at Seregno I literally didn’t understand anything, every training went badly. The more I started training, the better I understood ”, Amoah continues. This was largely due to the language barrier. “There were only a few players who spoke English and when they said to me that we were going to do a certain thing in practice, then something completely different happened. There was always miscommunication, so I didn’t really like it. The players were all older, around thirty. They barely spoke to me. If they did talk to me, I didn’t understand. I didn’t really feel comfortable. ”

After three weeks, Amoah was again on the line with his agent, without changing his opinion about a possible longer stay in Italy. Again he was asked to hang on for a while. One exhibition game to be precise, because there would be scouts from Atalanta, Juventus and Napoli along the line. “I didn’t believe that, I thought: why do those clubs come to watch a friendly match of an amateur club? I played quite well and scored a goal, but told my agent after the game that I was going home. He booked a plane ticket and when I got to the airport, 40 minutes before my flight, my agent called, “Napoli want you today. You have to choose whether you go home or there ‘. I didn’t believe it, but I agreed. A ticket to Naples was booked for me. ”

For example, Amoah suddenly found himself at the Castel Volturno training complex of Napoli, where he was allowed to join the training camp of the Under-19s after a few corona problems (quarantine, a positive and a negative test). “That went well, I gave three assists in two games and was immediately hired. The choice was quickly made, especially after a conversation with my parents. It’s a great opportunity from God, ”beams Amoah. Where he actually wanted to go home as quickly as possible in Seregno, he soon felt at home at Napoli. “They generally speak English here, the atmosphere is very different. I play with guys my own age and it’s more professional than Seregno. I learn something new every training, I feel that I am really developing. I haven’t really had that at a club. I’ve never been in a professional club before, so I can’t really compare. But the discipline and interaction is very professional, the level is very high. ”

Amoah currently lives in a players’ hotel, with the other players who are from outside Naples. “The food is also provided there. In between training sessions I analyze match images in my room. Of course it is different from an amateur club, which I was used to. I felt it on my legs at the beginning of the week, I just had muscle pain for a few days. Normally I would cancel the training, now it is tough. You don’t really have anything around, I don’t have a car. I will be going to school soon, which is mainly based on learning Italian. I do know certain words, but I don’t speak and understand them completely. I’m a bit fed up with the weather, I like a little rain. You can wait a long time for that ”, he laughs. After two and a half weeks, the provisional highlight of his time at Napoli already followed, with the first training with the first team. “They want me to focus on my development, to understand the game better. There are few players who join the first from the youth, hopefully I will succeed. Or I’ll be loaned to another club. ” As Mertens said to him when they said goodbye: “If you continue like this, I will see you here more often.” It is a statement for Amoah to adhere to.