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Kekuta Manneh making waves at Texas Rush Club

Feb 2, 2011, 2:35 PM | Article By: Lamin Drammeh

The Texas Rush Soccer Club inspirational figure Kekuta Manneh continues to establish himself into becoming a household name in Texas Rush squad, since his arrival at the club a year ago.

The former Steve Biko creative forward, who scored 17 goals in 12 appearances when he arrived at the club last season, has become a central nuclear for Texas team.

The Gambian young promising star is leading in the team’s scoring chart, as he netted 17 goals in just 12 games in his first season, earning the admiration of a good number of football pundits around the globe as a result.

His spectacular scoring ability coupled with some fantastic individual brilliance that he uses to always penetrate defence lines is hugely considered the driving force behind his success with the Texas outfit.

And his magnificent performance was finally rewarded with an accolade when he was selected to the 2010 Disney’s Soccer Showcase All-Star Team.

Kekuta actually made it to the All-star team’s selection due to his outstanding and consistent performance throughout an intensive campaign, scoring four goals in his first three appearances with the youth side.

He made the majority of the assisting passes that created goals for Texas in his first full season with the club.

“This is an outstanding accomplishment for Kekuta; he will receive an all expense paid trip to London, England. The trip will begin at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex and Kekuta will then travel and spend a week at the fantastic Chelsea FC Academy in Cobham, England. This is a fantastic opportunity for the youngster to train and compete against top European footballers,” a statement quoted in the club’s website stated.

“Kekuta has worked very hard for the past 5 months and he is very deserving of this honour. The whole team in general had a great showcase, but individually I was proud of what Kekuta displayed on the field,” says head coach Don Gemmell.

He told Kekuta: “As part of this trip you will be completely outfitted with all training, game and leisure equipment when you arrive in Orlando prior to departing for London. Congratulations on being selected to the 2010 Disney’s Soccer Showcase All-Star Team.”

This is no doubt a clear indication that Kekuta is undeniably one of the hottest prospects in the country’s football at the youth category in recent times.

His dazzling skills, quick movement and wonderful scoring ability, coupled with some spectacular individual brilliance, have earned the youngster the admiration of many football pundits in The Gambia and beyond.

Kekuta has therefore been invited to join the Gambia national U-20 team that will take part in next month’s CAF African U-20 youth tournament in Tripoli, Libya.

The 16-year-old Kekuta also had successful stints with a host of top local football clubs in The Gambia before moving to Texas in USA in 2010.

The former Gilkock Academy star moved to Steve Biko at a very tender age and has since managed to make a mark. His valuable contribution helped the Bakau giant killers to finish second position in the country’s top flight football before breaking his away into the foreign soccer league two seasons ago.