Adomah so proud after making Ghana debut

Albert Adomah has described his debut for Ghana as one of the proudest moments of his life.

The Bristol City winger, 23, finally got a chance to represent his country for the first time in Monday night's international friendly against five-time world champions Brazil at Craven Cottage.

? Adomah came off the bench for the final 13 minutes of a game the Black Stars eventually lost 1-0 – but the result did little to take the shine off Adomah's evening. "To make my debut for Ghana has got to be one of the proudest moments of my life and one I'll never forget," he said.

"The Brazil players must have thought I was mad because I had a smile on my face for the whole 13 minutes that I was on. It was a great night for me. I'm from Shepherd's Bush, which is ten minutes away from Craven Cottage, so all my family was there to see me play and they all said they were proud when I ran on to the pitch.

"All my friends from London also came down to watch and I also had lots of family back home in Africa watching on TV.

"I was nervous on the bench, but once I stepped on to the pitch all the nerves went out of my body to be replaced with joy.

"I never thought I'd be sharing a pitch with a Brazil team containing the likes of Ronaldinho, Lucio, Neymar and all the rest of their big names."

Adomah's debut on the international stage is even more remarkable considering the unorthodox route by which he has entered the professional game.

The London-born winger started his football career through involvement in a council-funded youth project based in Ravenscourt Park in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham.

He went along as a 15-year-old because he was "bored" and he explained: "I asked the street wardens whether I could join the team and they said yes.

He added: "From there it developed into playing every Sunday for two or three years. I always knew I had the skills to be a professional footballer, but the street wardens' project really helped me to develop them.

"What has happened since is unbelievable, really. I couldn't have ever imagined playing for Ghana a few years ago when all I was doing was playing football on the street and in the parks of West London.

"I was never involved with a professional club when I was younger. Football for me was about being with my friends and something to enjoy; something to do for the fun of it.

"I used to love going down to play on Sunday mornings or to be up on the astroturf playing five-a-side in the evenings. I started to take it more seriously when I was playing on Saturday afternoons in the amateur leagues.

"I was eventually picked up by Harrow Borough and things have just taken off from there."

Adomah made his bow in the professional game when signing for Barnet in 2008 before arriving at Ashton Gate last summer.

He is know setting his sights on maintaining his place in the Ghana squad ahead of the 2012 Africa Nations Cup tournament, which is set to take place jointly in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea this coming January.

"My mission was to play for Ghana and now my aim has to be to maintain my place in the squad and try and break into the team," said Adomah.

"There are a lot of big name players in the squad like Asamoah Gyan, Sully Muntari and Derek Boateng.

"It can be a bit daunting when you first arrive, but they've welcomed me into the squad. It helps that I can speak Twi, which is a native language of Ghana, so I don't feel like an outsider.

"It is great to train alongside them because they are people that have already achieved a lot in their careers and you can only learn good things when you are around experienced international players."