Ousman Manneh created history when he scored the winning goal for Werder Bremen in their 2-1 shock victory over Bundesliga rivals, Bayer Leverkusen which capped a fairytale rise for him after having just two years after fleeing his homeland, The Gambia, as a refugee. The 19-year-old recently left his entire family behind two years ago and only started playing football when he settled in a German refugee centre, but impressed in a trial with German fifth tier side Blumenthaler in 2014 before going on to score 15 goals in 11 games for their youth team.
His form attracted interest from Bremen, who signed him for their reserves in March 2015. Having only been plucked from Bremen's reserves at the start of the season, Manneh was making just his fourth appearance for the first team when he scored in the 59th minute against Leverkusen at Bremen's Weser Stadion. Calling it "a dream come true" to score his first Bundesliga goal, Ousman said; "This is the greatest moment of my life.
I've been so proud to be the first Gambian to play four (Bundesliga) games, and now I'm proud to be the first one to score. I always wanted to play football, of course, but, to do that in front of 40,000 fans at the Weser Stadion I just couldn’t believe it. Was it real or was I dreaming? That was the greatest moment of my life."
It made me proud to be the first Gambian to play four Bundesliga games, and now I’m proud to be the first one to score.”
