“Growing up in Yeji in the then Brong Ahafo Region, I never thought about any future profession aside from football, so when I got the opportunity to be part of my school team at the Pentecost Junior High School (JHS), I knew I could not fail”, says Blessing Shine Agbomadzi.
Blessing, who is 25 years old now and an integral member of the senior female national team, discovered her interest in football at a very tender age, and when she was called into her JHS team, she played for a brief period.
Her exploits and potential, which heightened during her teenage years, whipped up interest from clubs, but a move to join the Kumasi Sports Academy in the Ashanti Region in 2008 was all she needed to break the glass ceiling to exhibit her God-given talent.
For close to a decade, Blessing has carved a niche for herself both locally and internationally-- at the club and national team levels.
Qualities
In a phone interview with The Mirror last week, the female footballer said she has prodigious technical qualities and a big game ability.
”Physically, I am strong, aggressive, intelligent and a smooth ball-playing defender with great timing, quick tackling, anticipation, positioning, aerial prowess, energetic character and tactical ability,” she explained.
As a right-footed centre back, Blessing said she could also be deployed as a right back and in a defensive midfield role.
She said her work rate, techniques, composure in possession, and confidence on the ball enable her to play the ball out from the back or launch an attack with long balls after winning back possession.
She is known as a physically strong centre back with excellent aerial ability and mobility, as well as good technique and distribution of balls and breaking opposition defence lines with technical passes.
Blessing told this reporter that she has excellent ball control, a superb first touch, great speed, and outstanding vision. Blessing also has the ability to exert energy in supporting offensive stances.
As a very accurate tackler with strong positional sense, Blessing excels at anticipating her opponents and protecting the ball.
Career
Between 2008 and 2016, Blessing distinguished herself in all aspects of the game while at the Academy in Kumasi, and that earned her promotion from the youth to the senior team of the Academy.
She eventually graduated and joined the Elmina Sea Lions FC.
She said she was discovered by Hapoel Be’er Sheva FC in Israel, where she had her first professional career, and later came back to join Hasaacas Ladies FC in Ghana.
Blessing, since blossoming into a star on the field of play, also caught the eye of managers of the various national teams.
She said she received call-ups to Ghana’s female Under-17 national team, the Black Maidens, and the Under-20 national team, the Black Princesses, and has represented both teams since 2017.
Individual honours
In her nearly decade-long career as a footballer, Blessing said she has had the privilege of participating in the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in Jordan in 2016 and the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in France in 2018.
She also won the 2020/2021 edition of the Ghana Women’s League and has, on two occasions, been adjudged the Most Valuable Player during the 2020/21 Super Cup.
Blessing was also an FA Cup champion in 2021.
During her professional career abroad, the hardworking defender had also played with the Association Sportive des Forces Armées Royales (ASFAR), a premier Moroccan football club based in Rabat, Morocco and won the prestigious Women’s Footballer of the Year 2022/23 and the Morocco FA Cup in the same year.
The club placed third in the CAF Women’s Champions League in 2023/2024 and won another Morocco FA Cup in 2023/2024.
Blessing is also a Champion of the 2021 WAFU Zone “B” Cup, the 2021 African Women’s Champions League and the 2022 First Lady’s Cup.
She also won the 2021/22 Ghana Women’s League and was crowned the Most Valuable Player in the 2021/22 Ghana Women’s League.
Blessing's parents are Mr Robert Agbomadzi and Mrs Benedicta Agbomadzi, both business merchants at Yeji in the Bono Region. She is the third of five siblings.
