Gabriel Boakye (born February 26, 1998) is a Canadian

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player who plays for Vaughan Azzurri in League1 Ontario.

Club career

Boakye began playing soccer at the age of eight for Oakridges SC. In 2015, he joined

TFC Academy Toronto FC Academy, also known as TFC Academy, is the youth academy and development system of Canadian Major League Soccer club Toronto FC. The academy has divisions from U14 to U19 and includes over 110 young players. The senior academy team is ...

in the

Premier Development League USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional developmental association football, soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States and Canada, forming part of the United Stat ...

and

Toronto FC II Toronto FC II is a Canadian professional soccer team based in Toronto, Ontario, who play in MLS Next Pro, a third tier league of the United States soccer league system. It is the reserve team and minor league affiliate of Toronto FC as well as i ...

in the

United Soccer League United Soccer League (USL), formerly known as United Soccer Leagues, is a Association football, soccer league in the United States and Canada. It organizes several men's and women's leagues, both professional and amateur. Men's leagues curren ...

and made thirteen and eight appearances respectively. On July 9, 2015, Boakye made his professional debut in a 2–0 defeat to Pittsburgh Riverhounds. He suffered a further six defeats, claiming only one victory in his time with the club. His final appearance came on September 17 in a 2–1 loss to

Richmond Kickers Richmond Kickers is an American professional soccer club based in Richmond, Virginia. The Kickers compete as a member of USL League One (USL-1). The club was established in 1993, and began play that same year as a United States Interregional S ...

. In November 2015, Boakye was one of two

Toronto FC Toronto Football Club (commonly known as Toronto FC or TFC) is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home matches at BMO ...

players for Under-17 Men's Player of the Year at the 2015 Canada Soccer Player Awards. The award was won by Vancouver Whitecap's Kadin Chung. Boakye moved to Energie Cottbus in 2016, largely playing with the U-19 team. He made his first substitute appearance for the first team in December 2016. While at Energie Cottbus, Boakye would switch from a fullback, to a forward, earning positive review in the process as he scored 4 goals in 17 games while the club earned promotion to the 3. Liga. After two seasons with Energie Cottbus, Boakye signed with 1. FC Köln II. On July 25, 2020, Boakye signed a one-year contract with FC Lokomotive Leipzig. On September 23, 2021, he joined FC Edmonton in the Canadian Premier League for the remainder of the 2021 season. On February 9, 2022, the club announced that Boakye and all but two other players would not be returning for the 2022 season. In 2023, he played with the

Simcoe County Rovers Simcoe County Rovers Football Club is a Canadian semi-professional soccer club based in Barrie, Ontario, that plays in the League1 Ontario men's and women's divisions. History The club was founded in 2021, by former Canadian national team pl ...

in League1 Ontario.

International career

Boakye featured in the Canadian youth program for the first time in 2013 under coach Tony Fonseca. He was named to the U15 national team for the

2013 Copa de México de Naciones The 2012 Copa de México de Naciones is the 2nd edition of the Copa México de Naciones Sub-15 and it took place in Mexico from August 10 to August 18. The tournament is supposed to be the precursor the proposed U-15 FIFA World Cup. Twelve teams p ...

. He made his international debut during the CONCACAF Under-17 Championship. On February 28, 2015, he played 90 minutes a 3–1 victory over

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...

. He then followed up with a further four international appearances over the next few weeks. His final outing came on March 15, when suffering a 3–0 defeat to

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

. In February 2017, Boakye was named to Canada's roster for the

2017 CONCACAF U-20 Championship The 2017 CONCACAF Under-20 Championship was the 5th edition of the CONCACAF Under-20 Championship (26th edition if all eras included), the men's under-20 international football tournament organized by CONCACAF. It was hosted in Costa Rica between ...

Boakye was named to the Canadian U-23 provisional roster for the

2020 CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualifying Championship The 2020 CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualifying Championship was the fifteenth and final edition of the CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualifying, the quadrennial, international, age-restricted football tournament organised by CONCACAF to determine which men's ...

on February 26, 2020.

Personal life

Boakye's father was born in

Kumasi Kumasi (historically spelled Comassie or Coomassie, usually spelled Kumase in Twi) is a city in the Ashanti Region, and is among the largest metropolitan areas in Ghana. Kumasi is located in a rain forest region near Lake Bosomtwe, and is the ...

, Ghana, while his mother was born in

Accra Accra (; tw, Nkran; dag, Ankara; gaa, Ga or ''Gaga'') is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , ...

, Ghana. As a result, he is eligible to represent

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Boakye, Gabriel 1998 births Living people Men's association football forwards Canadian men's soccer players Canada men's youth international soccer players Canadian people of Ghanaian descent Sportspeople of Ghanaian descent Canadian expatriate men's soccer players Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Canadian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Toronto FC Academy players Toronto FC II players FC Energie Cottbus players 1. FC Köln II players 1. FC Lokomotive Leipzig players FC Edmonton players USL Championship players Regionalliga players Canadian Premier League players USL League Two players League1 Ontario players Simcoe County Rovers FC players Vaughan Azzurri players