SHERMAN, Texas (KTEN)- "I looked at what Solo had achieved and started laughing," Texoma FC head coach Adrian Forbes said. "I went, 'Why are we even entering into this conversation? Texoma FC are never going to be able to get a player of that caliber.'"
But long before any accolades came his way, Solomon Asante was just a 19-year old from a small village in Ghana chasing his dream at a soccer club in Burkina Faso.
"That was my first professional contract so I was happy," Asante said. "The money, the signing bonus, everything. I didn't know anything, I was just going to play."
Three years later, Ghana called him up to the national team as just a 22-year old.
"You don't have any idea. When the national anthem is on, sometimes you feel like crying," Asante said. "I felt so good. I was thinking, 'wow from nowhere to this place.'"òòò½ÊÓƵ
Asante would go onto play 21 times for Ghana's national team. On the club side, he played for three different African teams as a professional across eight years. But in 2017, he decided it was time for a change.
"I was like, 'I need a new adventure,"' Asante said. "I think everything is done here in Africa."
So he came to America, joining Phoenix Rising, but it wasn't an easy transition as he had to leave his family behind in Ghana.
"Immediately after practice I have to sleep and by the time I wake up around 8 p.m., they are also awake in the morning" Asante said. "Then I will speak to them. The kids would be going to school, and my wife would be going to work."
Despite the odd sleep schedule, Asante settled in quickly. Across four seasons in Phoenix, he scored 54 goals and won League MVP twice. But after stops in Las Vegas and Indianapolis, a familiar thought entered Asante's mind after the 2024 season.
"I've been here four to five years," Asante said. "Let me try a new adventure again."
At the same time, Texoma FC was looking for players ahead of its inaugural year.
"From the moment I realized we might have a chance, I knew that as a club and myself as a sporting director, we need to do everything we can do in order to get this man to come and play for us," Forbes said.
By February, it was a done deal. His impact was immediate. On the field, he has four goals so far this year. Off the field, he's serving as a mentor as he enters the latter stages of his career.
"It's not just what he does with the ball," Forbes said. "It's the quiet conversations that he has with those players that might not be in the team at that point in time but he's the guy that they can go to and he can give them the knowledge and the experience because anything that any player in this locker room is experience, Solo's already seen it."
It's experience that comes with a 17-year career that's taken Asante from Ghana all the way to Sherman, Texas. A journey he's cherished every step of the way.
"It's been fantastic years," Asante said. "I feel so amazing. And everyone that has been supportive, I feel so proud. So so so proud."
Texoma FC honored Asante's career on Saturday night against his former team Phoenix Rising with a special halftime ceremony.
Asante was surrounded by his family, who are now in the U.S. alongside him
Now, he did miss out on that game due to injury, but he'll hope to be back soon with Texoma on a six-match unbeaten run in league play.
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