As the nation stands on the cusp of the next phase of Asia’s qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup 2026, the striker talks to the-AFC.com about the impending games against Malaysia and Oman.
One win is all that is required for Kyrgyz Republic to make history in the upcoming rounds of the Preliminary Joint Qualification – Round 2 for the FIFA World Cup 2026 and AFC Asian Cup Saudi Arabia 2027™.
Victory in Group D over either Malaysia on Thursday or Oman five days later will take the Central Asian nation into the next phase of the continent’s qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup for the first time and keep Kyrgyz Republic on track for a debut Finals appearance.
With the team sitting on top of the standings with nine points from their opening four matches, striker Kojo is confident the White Falcons can confirm their passage to the next round with the minimum of fuss.
Personally I don’t feel under any pressure in any game,” says the Ghana-born striker, who has scored seven times in the 15 games since making his debut last year for his adopted nation.
“I know in this game, the country and the coach and some of the players can feel the pressure but I just take it as a normal game.
“I’ll do what I know to do best. We are going to win these three points and we’re going to qualify. I hope the team is all going to come together and we can show our best.”
What Kojo does is score goals, and his record since making his debut as a substitute against the Islamic Republic of Iran in a CAFA Nations Cup clash last May suggests his confidence in both himself and Kyrgyz Republic’s qualification prospects is well placed.
He scored his country’s only goal at the AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023™, a late equaliser in a 1-1 draw against the same Omani side he and his teammates will face in Muscat on June 11 while he netted his first international hat-trick in March against Chinese Taipei.
But his recent exploits in front of goal are merely the latest chapter in an eventful career that saw him move as a teenager to a nation he knew nothing about.
“I was born and raised in Ghana and my first club was in the Seychelles and I also played in Rwanda, and while I was there an agent brought me an offer from Central Asia, to a country I hadn’t heard of before,” says the 25-year-old.
“Kyrgyz Republic was new to me. But if it’s about football I’m OK to go anywhere. That first year was very tough to me, I tried to enjoy it. I came into the team and everything has happened how it has until now, and now I’m enjoying myself.”
Kojo first joined FC Alay in the city of Osh, almost 600 kilometres from the capital Bishkek by road, and he was to make an immediate impact.
Fifteen goals in 21 league games in his first season in 2018 were followed by 19 in 24 matches in the next campaign before his career was halted by a knee injury and the international travel bans put in place as a result of the global pandemic.
It was a challenging time for Kojo, who was unable to return to Ghana to be with his family and, as a result of being stranded far from home, required cash transfers from his mother to survive.
The silver lining to this challenging period was when he met the woman who would become his wife, an English-speaking Bishkek-based hotel receptionist, plus the realisation the pathway to naturalisation had opened up due to his lengthy Covid-19 enforced stay.
source
کلاس یوس