Jokes with Demba Ba and Cristiano Ronaldo's workouts - all this and more with Bubacarr Trawally

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  • It has been some journey for Bubacarr Trawally.

    At 25-years old, the fleet-footed forward has accrued memories at clubs from his native The Gambia, China (three of them), Denmark, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. That’s an eclectic career path.

    Goals have flowed from the boyhood Arsenal supporter who honed his skills barefooted on the streets of Serekunda. Mid-table Ajman in 2019/20, alone, have celebrated seven from 14 Arabian Gulf League run-outs, during a productive loan move from Riyadh’s Al Shabab.

    He has also been singled out for praise by a World Cup winning coach after a fine hat-trick. Plus, faced interrogation by a leading former Premier League striker.

    In short, the approachable attacker has an abundance of enlightening – and entertaining – tales to tell.

    “I remember always when I think about China, when I first met Demba Ba, a Senegalese who was playing in Chelsea,” the beaming Trawally tells Sport360 on the pitch at Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Stadium, an infectious laughter providing the backing track. “By then [July 2016], I’d scored already around eight goals in the league.

    “So when he saw me in the line-up, he just came to me and he was like: ‘What are you doing here? You should be playing in Europe right now. You are too young to be here.’

    “I’m like: ‘What are you doing here?!?”

    “So he said: ‘No, I’m old, so if I’m here for the money, it’s okay.’

    “And I was like, I’m here, this is the chance I got. And I’m here to grab what I can grab.”

    Eye-watering fees attracted the likes of Oscar, Ramires, Hulk, Paulinho, Graziano Pelle, Asamoah Gyan, Renato Augusto, Ezequiel Lavezzi and Gervinho to the Chinese Super League when Trawally was present.

    Another renowned competitor was Odion Ighalo. The Nigeria centre forward – and 2019 Africa Cup of Nations No1 marksman – will play the final months of 2019/20 at fallen Premier League giants Manchester United because of a remarkable deadline-day temporary switch.

    Visit Platinumlist.net throughout 2019/20 to purchase Arabian Gulf League tickets

    “It’s a surprise move for everybody, but he’s a top, top player and in Africa everyone knows what he’s capable of,” Trawally declares of a player with 46 goals in 74 matches at Changchun Yatai and Shanghai Shenhua.

    “I’ve played against him in China and I know he’s a quality player. It’s a surprise for the world, but I mean regarding his talent it’s not a big surprise to me, because I’ve played against him.”

    Trawally called the Far East home from January 2015’s purchase by – one-time employers of Australia great Tim Cahill – Huangzhou Greentown, until February 2019’s switch to Shabab. He had expected to walk the familiar route that African prospects follow to Scandinavia, prior to hitting Europe’s big leagues.

    A complex contractual issue witnessed his registration, fleetingly, switch to Denmark’s Vejle Boldklub in January 2018. Just like Huangzhou, however, he’d never play for them.

    An impressive 54 strikes in 111 top-flight appearances were racked up at unfashionable Yanbian Funde and Guizhou Hengfeng throughout a ‘boom’ period for the Chinese game. This tally included memorable trios versus Beijing Guoan and Luiz Felipe Scolari’s fearsome Guangzhou Evergrande.

    Trawally, understandably, declines to contain his pride when asked to discuss the latter achievement. October 2017’s 4-3 defeat against the Brazil World Cup 2002 conquering tactician’s star-studded CSL champions has made him “push for more” until this day.

    He recalls: “Paulinho was playing. They [Guangzhou] have this player, [Ricardo] Goulart is a Brazilian, top player.

    “All those players were playing and I was playing for Yanbian Funde, no big, famous players. And then after scoring the hat-trick, I mean, I was like, ‘Okay I scored [a hat-trick] against Beijing [Guoan], so scoring against Guangzhou [Evergrande], okay, it’s a nice feeling, but maybe not a surprise anymore.’

    “But then, after my third goal, [Luiz Felipe] Scolari was sent off because I guess he was having some problems with the coach. He was supposed to be upstairs.

    “But after the game he came all the way down and came to me direct and then he said to me: “You have a very good future. Keep pushing and then you have all it takes to reach to the top.”

    “That is always going to be on my mind, because Scolari is a coach that has won everything, the World Cup, everything with Brazil.

    “Having that kind of coach telling you that you are good and that you are on the right track, you have a very bright future, means a lot to me, because he knows football.

    “He’s trained Ronaldo, Neymar, he’s trained everybody. So seeing those and then still be surprised by your talent means that there is so much in you that you can still bring out.

    “So I still, whenever I feel down, I think about these words and I still want to push for more.”

    A source of inspiration. Then, so is Instagram.

    Trawally, hugely popular in The Gambia, is a regular poster on social media. But it is not just a platform for him to showcase his goals from across the globe, luxurious holidays – the AGL’s three-week hiatus has allowed for a trip to the heavenly Maldives – or “Deutschland drip”.

    Juventus and Portugal icon Cristiano Ronaldo’s intense workouts can cause his usual followers to hyperventilate just watching them. For Trawally, they evidence what’s required to become elite.

    He says: “I look at Cristiano’s accounts all the time. Someone talked to me [about], a video of him doing some running.

    “It was his recent video on Instagram. So he did it in like 34 seconds or something he finished a run.

    “Someone tagged me, I don’t even know the person.

    “He said, ‘Steve (Trawally’s first name used on a casual basis), I believe you can do this in one minute.’

    “I’m like: ‘Why not? We can have a try.”

    “But mostly I’ll be on YouTube watching Cristiano Ronaldo and how he moves inside the [penalty] box and stuff, because he’s the best.

    “For me, he is the best player in the world and as a striker also, he’s one of the best, like the deadliest forwards in the world.

    “He can score from anywhere. So watching his videos I think improves me a lot.”

    Ajman are the latest benefactors of this drive.

    Sudden availability from Shabab combined with injury to unconvincing Nigerian forward Godwin Mensha and positive vibes from a swift Google search. This summer deadline-day arrangement has proved wise.

    Trawally cuts inside from the left flank, offering support to similarly prolific Ghanaian striker William Owusu. Both lead the way for the 10th-placed Orange Brigade on seven AGL goals.

    Highlights from the former include a sharp near-post header versus Omar Abdulrahman’s Al Jazira, plus a determined run and emphatic finish into the top corner versus promoted Hatta.

    Bubacarr Trawally celebrating his goal against Hatta (UAE Pro League).

    Bubacarr Trawally celebrating his goal against Hatta (UAE Pro League).

    “I’d been coming to Dubai for vacations and things, but never been to Ajman before,” Trawally says. “When I got the call that Ajman were interested in me I went to Google and checked the club and then I was like: ‘Yeah, I’m open. Let’s make it happen.’

    “I always say in my interviews, the first day I stepped here, I feel like home. I feel like I love it, because I’ve been to many clubs, but in Ajman it’s a different environment.

    “It’s more like a family than just a football club. Because some football clubs you come, some player, especially on the first day they, once they greet you, they’re done with you.

    “I came on the first day and I was already free in the locker room. Everyone is smiling, everyone was welcoming.

    “So I feel so good and I think that is one thing that really helped me to settle down quick here and then play right away, like I’ve been here for a while.

    “I love the atmosphere here. I’m always happy to come to training and see my friends, because it’s always positive atmosphere here.

    “I’m enjoying life here. Scored a couple of goals.”

    Time with The Gambia has, however, not proven similarly straightforward.

    A disagreement about an apparent injury was inflamed by September 2018’s snub in head coach Tom Saintfiet’s debut fixture against Algeria in 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualification.

    The Belgian declared last August “I’m not begging them to play” when he referred to the star trio of Trawally, Hadjuk Split midfielder Hamza Barry and Denizlispor forward Modou Barrow.

    All three declined invitations, according to BBC Sport, for June’s preceding friendlies against Guinea and Morocco. They were then not selected for a number of games, until November’s 2021 AFCON preliminaries versus Angola and DR Congo.

    Trawally has insisted it is still a “great feeling” to play for a country who are currently on course for a berth at next year’s continental tournament from Group D.

    He says: “I had my debut in 2015 for Gambia against Cameroon. It’s a great feeling for any football player to play for your country – and I was in and out of the squad.

    “Because two years ago, we had a game but I was a bit injured. They thought I didn’t want to go play because by then we were already out of the competition.

    “I reported an injury and then it brought a bit of talking in the media that I didn’t want to go play. So after that I took a break and then there was a change of coach, also.

    “It took time for me to come back to the national team. But finally I’m back in the national team.

    “We are currently top of our group, we have Gabon, [DR] Congo and Angola in our pool [for AFCON qualifying]. So it’s a tough pool.”

    Football has taken Trawally to places he never could have predicted; from the Far East to the Middle East, wowing prominent figures in the modern game along the way.

    His toughest challenge, however, came from a familiar source. An ability to transform his father from sceptic into keenest supporter might be the wildest transformation of all in an astounding career full of unpredictable twists.

    He says: “My dad was, a bit, the one [who was] difficult about playing football and studies. But now whenever I play a game and we win, and then I didn’t send a video, and he’ll be like: ‘What happened today? Didn’t you score?’

    “I’m like: ‘Oh wow.’

    “So my mom was the football fan, but now it’s the whole family. My dad will be the first one to call after every game.

    “Because they live in the United States, my mum and dad and my sisters.

    “So the time difference, when we are playing, they are sleeping.

    “Whenever he wakes up, that’s when the game is finished, he will call me direct.

    “It’s a great feeling now, before I was like, ‘Oh, it’s only my mom.’

    “But now you have the whole family loving football, supporting football, and then seeing what you got from football, helping the family and helping yourself as a kid.

    “Now, I’m married. It’s a good feeling that I have 100-per-cent support with my football and I’m happy.”

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