When FC Cincinnati play at FC Dallas on Saturday night, Kekuta Manneh will be able play in front of his family for the first time in two years.
Manneh was originally born in Gambia, but moved to the U.S. to pursue a professional soccer career. Part of that pursuit meant he spent time in Texas, where he found a new family and was adopted.
It’s a beautiful story that ESPN’s Dan Hadjucky wrote about on Aug. 8. The story is called “Kekuta Manneh’s long and winding road to Cincinnati.
Although his family live in Austin, they’ll make 450-mile roundtrip drive to see Manneh play at FC Dallas. This past weekend against Columbus Crew SC, he scored a goal against his most recent MLS club – and the last club for which his family saw him play.
“It’s always nice to play in front of family,” the winger said. “They always have a good time and I try to impress them. Since I was younger in my academy days, I always gave everything that I have, so it will be very nice to be able to play in front of them. They haven’t seen me play in a long time.”
