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Latif Blessing

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Latif Blessing
Personal information
Full name Latif Atta Blessing
Date of birth (1996-12-30) 30 December 1996 (age 27)
Place of birth Accra, Ghana
Height 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)[1]
Position(s) Midfielder, forward
Team information
Current team
 Houston Dynamo
Number 15
Youth career
2013–2014 Liberty Professionals
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2014–2016 Liberty Professionals 21 (17)
2017 Sporting Kansas City 25 (3)
2017 → Swope Park Rangers (loan) 1 (1)
2018–2022 Los Angeles FC 145 (14)
2023 New England Revolution 15 (0)
2023–2024 Toronto FC 5 (0)
2023 → Toronto FC II (loan) 1 (0)
2024– Houston Dynamo 27 (5)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 22 October 2024

Latif Atta Blessing (born 30 December 1996) is a Ghanaian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder or forward for Major League Soccer club Houston Dynamo FC.

Early life

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Blessing was born in Nankese, a small village in the Suhum-Kraboa-Coaltar District of southeast Ghana.

Club career

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Ghana

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In 2013, Latif Blessing joined the Liberty Professionals youth team in Accra.[2] He was soon promoted to the senior club for the Ghana Premier League but mainly appeared on the bench for the side.[2] Blessing received particularly good reviews for his performance during a Premier League match against Asante Kotoko on 21 June 2015. In that match, he scored in the 21st minute to equalize before providing two assists, leading Liberty Professionals to a 3–1 victory.[3]

During the 2016 season, Blessing scored six goals in his first eight games.[2] After his hat-trick on the final day of the season against Bechem United, Blessing would go on to finish the season as the top scorer in the league with 17 goals.[4] His performance during the season was recognized in December 2016 when Blessing won the best player of the league award by the Ghana Football Association.[5]

Major League Soccer

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In January 2017, Blessing signed with Sporting Kansas City of Major League Soccer.[6][7] He made his MLS debut on 11 March 2017 against FC Dallas.[8] On 24 March 2017, Blessing was loaned to Swope Park Rangers, scoring in their match against OKC Energy FC.[9][10] Blessing's first MLS goals came in a brace on 13 May 2017 in a 2–2 draw in Orlando versus Orlando City SC.[11] On 20 September 2017, Blessing scored in the 2017 U.S. Open Cup Final, as Sporting Kansas City won the 2017 U.S. Open Cup.[12]

In December 2017, Blessing was selected by Los Angeles FC with the second selection of the 2017 MLS Expansion Draft. He made his debut for the club as a starter in their first MLS match, a 1–0 victory at Seattle Sounders FC.

On January 3, 2023, Blessing was acquired by New England Revolution in exchange for $400,000 in GAM for Los Angeles FC.[13]

In July 2023, he was traded to Toronto FC in exchange for Mark-Anthony Kaye.[14]

In March 2024, he was traded to Houston Dynamo FC in exchange for $75,000 in 2025 GAM and up to $200,000 in conditional 2025 GAM.[15]

International career

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Blessing was included in the provisional squad for Ghana before the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations, but failed to make the final cut.[16]

Personal life

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In 2017, Blessing obtained a U.S. green card allowing him to qualify as a domestic player for MLS roster purposes.[17] However, in 2023, as part of the process to bring his family over via a visa, he had to give up his green card and reapply under a visa status, returning him to counting as an international player.[18][19]

Blessing's brother, Ibrahim Fuseini, currently plays for Lori FC in the Armenian Premier League.[20] He has a twin sister, Latifa.[21]

Career statistics

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As of match played 21 October 2023[22]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup Playoffs Continental Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Liberty Professionals 2016 Ghanaian Premier League 21 17 — — — — 21 17
Sporting Kansas City 2017 Major League Soccer 25 3 5 3 1 0 — — 31 6
Swope Park Rangers (loan) 2017 USL 1 1 — — — — 1 1
Los Angeles FC 2018 Major League Soccer 30 5 4 2 1 0 — — 35 7
2019 34 6 3 0 2 0 — — 39 6
2020 21 1 — 1 0 5 1 2 1 29 3
2021 30 2 — — — — 30 2
2022 30 0 3 0 0 0 — — 33 0
Total 145 14 10 2 4 0 5 1 2 1 166 18
New England Revolution 2023 Major League Soccer 15 0 1 0 — — — 16 0
Toronto FC 2023 Major League Soccer 5 0 — — — 2 0 7 0
Toronto FC II (loan) 2023 MLS Next Pro 1 0 — — — — 1 0
Career total 212 35 16 5 5 0 5 1 4 1 242 42

Honours

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Sporting Kansas City

Los Angeles FC

References

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  1. ^ "Latif Blessing". Los Angeles FC. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
  2. ^ a b c "A Shamo Quaye of our time". pulse.com. Pulse. 21 April 2016. Retrieved 10 January 2017.
  3. ^ "Liberty fight back to defeat Kotoko in Dansoman". modernghana.com. Modern Ghana. 21 June 2015. Retrieved 10 January 2017.
  4. ^ "Latif Blessing wins Ghana Premier League goal king". ghanaweb.com. Ghana Web. 19 September 2016. Retrieved 10 January 2017.
  5. ^ Abayateye, Michael (18 December 2016). "Latif Blessing wins Best Player of the Year at GFA/PLB Awards". primenewsghana.com. Prime News Ghana. Retrieved 10 January 2017.
  6. ^ Kovzan, Sam (9 January 2017). "Sporting KC acquires 20-year-old winger Latif Blessing in transfer from Ghana". Sporting Kansas City. Retrieved 10 January 2017.
  7. ^ "Sporting KC: preso Rwatubyaye, lavoro di scout all'italiana" [Sporting KC: Rwatubyaye, Italian Scout Job]. mlssocceritalia.com (in Italian). MLS Soccer Italia. 7 February 2019. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
  8. ^ "Recap: Sporting KC held to 0–0 draw with FC Dallas in 2017 home opener | Sporting Kansas City".
  9. ^ "Swope Park Rangers adds five players on loan from Sporting Kansas City | Sporting Kansas City".
  10. ^ "Recap: Rangers open 2017 season with 3–1 comeback win | Sporting Kansas City".
  11. ^ "Recap: Latif Blessing's brace steers Sporting KC to 2–2 draw at Orlando City SC | Sporting Kansas City".
  12. ^ "Recap: Sporting KC crowned Open Cup champions with 2–1 win over New York Red Bulls | Sporting Kansas City".
  13. ^ "LAFC Acquires $400,000 In General Allocation Money From New England In Exchange For Latif Blessing". Los Angeles FC. 3 January 2023. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  14. ^ "Toronto FC acquire Latif Blessing and an international slot in exchange for Mark-Anthony Kaye". Toronto FC. 13 July 2023.
  15. ^ "Toronto FC trade Latif Blessing to Houston Dynamo FC for GAM". Toronto FC. 14 March 2024.
  16. ^ "Ghana Premier League best player Latif Blessing dropped from Africa Cup of Nations squad". Ghana Soccer Net. 2 January 2017. Retrieved 10 January 2017.
  17. ^ "Forward Latif Blessing obtains green card, no longer occupies international spot on Sporting KC roster". SportingKC.com. 28 November 2017. Archived from the original on 1 August 2018. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  18. ^ Vazquez, Randy (13 June 2023). "He came from Ghana to play soccer, but left his family behind. With help from the Revolution, they were finally reunited". Boston Globe.
  19. ^ Pongratz, Caleb [@CalebPongratz10] (10 July 2023). "Revolution midfielder Latif Blessing no longer occupies a green card and occupies an international roster slot" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  20. ^ "Ghanaian youngster Ibrahim Fuseini joins Armenian side Lori FC". kickgh.com. Kick GH. 28 January 2018. Retrieved 4 September 2018.
  21. ^ "Latif Blessing | Los Angeles Football Club".
  22. ^ Latif Blessing at Soccerway
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