THERE WAS a significant milestone in the career of James Abankwah today, as the Irish youngster made his debut in Serie A for Udinese.
The 19-year-old Waterford-born player came off the bench in the 86th minute of his side’s 3-0 loss to Bologna.
It is a further sign of progress for the youngster, who was playing Premier Division football with St Patrick’s Athletic less than a year ago.
In January of last year, Abankwah was sold by Pat’s for an undisclosed fee believed to a record upfront fee paid for a League of Ireland player of around €800,000 plus add-ons, according to the Irish Sun.
Abankwah had already made several first-team appearances for St Patrick’s Athletic and was immediately loaned back to the Saints until July 2022, as he completed his Leaving Certificate exams.
The defender was not the only Irish underage international on display, as Festy Ebosele made just his second Serie A start and 11th appearance in total, after joining the club following the expiration of his Derby County contract at the end of last season.
It was not a good day for Udinese, however, or Enniscorthy native Ebosele, who was replaced at half-time.
Their opponents Bologna cruised to a 3-0 win to boost their hopes of European football next season.
Stefan Posch got Bologna underway with a blistering long-range drive with less than three minutes on the clock and two more fine efforts from Nikola Moro and Musa Barrow ensured a straightforward home win.
Thiago Motta’s team are eighth on 40 points in Italy’s top flight, seven points from the Conference League spot currently held by sixth-placed Roma who host struggling Sampdoria on Sunday evening.
That place in Europe’s third-tier club competition will drop down to seventh if a team already qualified for continental football wins the Italian Cup.
Udinese, meanwhile, are 10th as it stands.
Of the six teams currently in the European places Inter Milan are the only one in the semi-finals of the Italian Cup.
Bologna haven’t featured in a major European competition since reaching the third round of the UEFA Cup in 1999.
Later Napoli can take another step towards their first Serie A title since 1990 when they host reigning champions AC Milan in Naples.
Runaway league leaders Napoli, who will be without injured star striker Victor Osimhen, are 19 points ahead of Lazio with the capital club at Monza in one of two afternoon matches.
Additional reporting by AFP
