Danlad Ibrahim: Age-cheating allegations made me feel bad

The young shot-stopper debuted at the 2017 FIFA World Cup at the age of 14, sparking controversy over his age.

Danlad kept the sticks as the Black Starlets made it to the quarter-finals of the competition, where they were beaten by Mali.

The goalkeeper has since progressed to the U-20 level and recently helped the Black Satellites win the U-20 AFCON.

Danlad Ibrahim Pulse Ghana

The 18-year-old was in imperious form for Ghana and was deservedly adjudged the best goalkeeper of the tournament.

Speaking about his career so far, Danlad, who is currently on loan at King Faisal from Asante Kotoko, said allegations of age-cheating have hurt him in the past.

“I was so down when we went to the Under-17 World Cup and people back home were accusing me of age cheating,” he said, as quoted by Citisportsonline.

“I was feeling very bad because I was fighting for my country and my people are doing this to me on social media and everywhere.

“It affected me and it showed in our game against Mali which I even made a mistake and we got eliminated from the competition.

“But now I have grown to accept that criticism is part of the job as Neymar always says it. So now it doesn’t worry me at all when people make those accusations against me.”

Danlad is currently in camp with the Black Stars after earning a late call-up for Ghana’s upcoming AFCON qualifiers against South Africa and Sao Tome.