Latif Atta Blessing (born 30 December 1996) is a Ghanaian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

Early life

Blessing was born in Nankese, a small village in the Suhum-Kraboa-Coaltar District of southeast

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

Club career

Ghana

In 2013, Latif Blessing joined the

Liberty Professionals Liberty Professionals Football Club is a Ghanaian professional football club based in Dansoman, Accra. History Liberty Professionals was founded in 1996 by Accra-based businessmen Felix Ansong and Alhaji Sly Tetteh. The club was one of the earli ...

youth team in

Accra Accra (; or ''Gaga''; ; Ewe: Gɛ; ) is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , had a population of ...

. He was soon promoted to the senior club for the

Ghana Premier League The Ghana Premier League is the top professional association football league in Ghana organized by the Ghana Football Association and formed in 1958 to replace a previous league incarnation, the Gold Coast Club Competition which ran from 1933 ...

but mainly appeared on the bench for the side. Blessing received particularly good reviews for his performance during a Premier League match against

Asante Kotoko Asante Kotoko Sporting Club, simply known as Asante Kotoko, is a professional sports, professional association football, football club founded on 31 August 1935 and based in Kumasi in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. Nicknamed the ''African crested ...

on 21 June 2015. In that match, he scored in the 21st minute to equalize before providing two assists, leading Liberty Professionals to a 3–1 victory. During the 2016 season, Blessing scored six goals in his first eight games. After his hat-trick on the final day of the season against Bechem United, Blessing would go on to finish the season as the top scorer in the league with 17 goals. His performance during the season was recognized in December 2016 when Blessing won the best player of the league award by the

Ghana Football Association The Ghana Football Association (GFA) is the sports governing body, governing body of association football in Ghana, based in the capital city, Accra. Founded in 1957 to replace the Gold Coast (British colony), Gold Coast Football Association whi ...

Major League Soccer

In January 2017, Blessing signed with

Sporting Kansas City Sporting Kansas City is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Kansas City metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The ad ...

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

. He made his MLS debut on 11 March 2017 against

FC Dallas FC Dallas is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The franchise be ...

. On 24 March 2017, Blessing was loaned to

Swope Park Rangers Sporting Kansas City II is a MLS Next Pro club affiliated with Sporting Kansas City of Major League Soccer. For the 2022 season they will play their home games at Kansas Jayhawks, Rock Chalk Park at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas, ...

, scoring in their match against

OKC Energy FC Oklahoma City Energy Football Club, or simply Energy FC, is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The club is a member of the USL Championship, the second division of the American soccer lea ...

. Blessing's first MLS goals came in a brace on 13 May 2017 in a 2–2 draw in Orlando versus

Orlando City SC Orlando City Soccer Club is an American professional soccer club based in Orlando, Florida. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. Owned by Zygi, Leonard, and Mark Wilf, it is the sister club of ...

. On 20 September 2017, Blessing scored in the 2017 U.S. Open Cup Final, as Sporting Kansas City won the

2017 U.S. Open Cup The 2017 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup was the 104th edition of the U.S. Open Cup, oldest ongoing competition in American soccer. FC Dallas entered the competition as the 2016 U.S. Open Cup Final, defending champions, but were eliminated in the quart ...

. In December 2017, Blessing was selected by

Los Angeles FC Los Angeles Football Club (LAFC) is an American professional association football, soccer club based in Los Angeles. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. It was establi ...

with the second selection of the 2017 MLS Expansion Draft. He made his debut for the club as a starter in their first MLS match, a 1–0 victory at

Seattle Sounders FC Seattle Sounders FC is an American professional association football, soccer club based in Seattle. The Sounders compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The club was established on ...

. On January 3, 2023, Blessing was acquired by the

New England Revolution The New England Revolution are an American professional association football, soccer club based in the Greater Boston area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. It is on ...

for $400,000 in GAM for Los Angeles FC. In July 2023, he was traded to

Toronto FC Toronto Football Club is a Canadian professional Association football, soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. The team plays its home matc ...

for Mark-Anthony Kaye. In March 2024, he was traded to

Houston Dynamo FC Houston Dynamo Football Club is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in Houston. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. Established on Decembe ...

for $75,000 in 2025 GAM and up to $200,000 in conditional 2025 GAM.

International career

Blessing was included in the provisional squad for

before the

2017 Africa Cup of Nations The 2017 Africa Cup of Nations (abbreviated as AFCON 2017 or CAN 2017), known as the Total 2017 Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 31st edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial international men's football champions ...

, but failed to make the final cut.

Personal life

In 2017, Blessing obtained a U.S. green card allowing him to qualify as a domestic player for MLS roster purposes. However, in 2023, as part of the process to bring his family over via a visa, he had to give up his green card and reapply under a visa status, returning him to counting as an international player. Blessing's brother, Ibrahim Fuseini, currently plays for

Lori FC Lori FC () was an Armenian association football, football club based in Vanadzor, Lori Province. Originally founded in 1936, Lori has participated in the domestic football competition of Soviet Armenia. After retiring from professional football i ...

in the

Armenian Premier League The Armenian Premier League (, known as the Armenian Fastex Premier League for sponsorship reasons) is the top association football, football competition in Armenia. From 1936 to 1991, the competition was held as a regional tournament within th ...

. He has a twin sister, Latifa.

Career statistics

Honours

Sporting Kansas City *

U.S. Open Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a knockout cup competition in men's soccer in the United States. It is the country's oldest ongoing national soccer competition. The competition was first held duri ...

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

Los Angeles FC *

MLS Cup MLS Cup is the annual championship game of Major League Soccer (MLS) and the culmination of the MLS Playoffs. The game is held in November or December and pits the winner of the Eastern Conference Final against the winner of the Western Confere ...

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

Supporters' Shield The Supporters' Shield is an annual award given to the Major League Soccer team with the best regular season record, as determined by the MLS points system. The Supporters' Shield has been annually awarded at the MLS Supporters' Summit since 199 ...

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Blessing, Latif 1996 births Living people Footballers from Accra Ghanaian men's footballers Liberty Professionals F.C. players Sporting Kansas City players Sporting Kansas City II players Men's association football forwards Ghanaian expatriate men's footballers Ghanaian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Ghana Premier League players Major League Soccer players USL Championship players Los Angeles FC players New England Revolution players Ghanaian twins Ghana Premier League top scorers Toronto FC players Toronto FC II players MLS Next Pro players Houston Dynamo FC players 21st-century Ghanaian sportsmen