With the North American Finals being held in Tampa, Fla., all of the MetroStars youth team players are far from home.
However, no player is farther from his home than Evans Asiamah, who was born and raised in Ghana. The speedy forward has been one of the stars of the tournament for the Metros' U-14s and has played a key role in providing an offensive spark to the team.
Asiamah still has fond memories of his homeland.
"Ghana was a great country," he said. "I still remember a lot of things about it -- school, friends, everything. If I had a chance to go back to visit, I would, to see my friends."
Evans' mother was the first to arrive in America, with his dad arriving a year later with Evans' older sister. Evans came over soon after that.
His father does not live with the family anymore, and Asiamah's uncle, John Louis, acts as his mentor.
"John is basically a father to me," he said. "He takes really good care of me; gives me whatever I need."
Louis also helps Asiamah's mother look after him because she is currently about to graduate from nursing school.
Adjusting to life in America was difficult for Evans at first.
"The hardest thing was fitting in with other people and eating the food," he said. "Going to lunch, I had to make my own African food. All the other kids would be laughing. But as time went on I started liking pizza and McDonald's. Now I'm getting quite used to it."
The Ghanaian influence also extends to music Asiahmah's musical tastes.
"I like rap, but what I listen to a lot is my Ghanaian music. I don't play around with it; I like it a lot."
When Evans first got to the United States, he saw clear differences in the soccer culture compared to Ghana.
"It's really different because United States soccer is very organized, especially with the MetroStars," he said. "I was so surprised how organized it was, how the coaches knew what they were talking about. The players, everyone was so nice to me."
Evans also said that in Ghana pretty much everyone plays soccer.
"Soccer is the main sport in Ghana, and if you can't play soccer I don't know what else you can do. Every kid in Ghana can play soccer."
He was especially happy that Ghana recently clinched a berth in the World Cup.
"I feel really great just to tell people, 'Ghana made it to the world Cup,'" he said. "It's about time that we Ghanaians get noticed. It's about time people start talking about the whole country, and how good we are at soccer."
Asiamah is happy to be playing soccer in America because he feels organized soccer means more opportunities for players in the U.S.
"We have talented soccer players in Ghana, but it's not organized, and we don't have the kinds of opportunities that U.S. soccer players have."
Evans first became associated with the MetroStars when a travel team coach told Asiamah's uncle, John Louis about the opportunity to play with the team and spoke to U-14 head coach Stan Lembryk about practicing with the team. Lembryk liked what he saw, and the rest is history.
One of Evans' most memorable soccer moments was his first game with the MetroStars, in which he got to play at Giants Stadium.
"Believe it or not my first actual game was at Giants Stadium with the U-16s" he said. "I never thought I would ever play at Giants Stadium. I was so surprised. So far I feel like the luckiest person on earth because of me playing at Giants Stadium."
Evans says the MetroStars have been one of the biggest influences in him becoming a better player.
"I just started playing soccer for the fun of it," he said. "When I got invited to the MetroStars that's when I started say, 'This is really important and I need to really work hard if I wanted to be a really good soccer player in the future.'
"The MetroStars actually influenced me a lot to be a good soccer player."
Asiamah's mother has been one of his biggest influences in soccer as well. Although his mother could not make it to Tampa for the National Championship, Evans still feels her presence with him.
"Even though she told me she couldn't make it she told me just to understand that she was by my side just like all the other parents" he said. "So I just pretend she's there and just play the best that I can. So even though she's not around I feel like she's around watching me to do the best that I can and to be respectful to everyone."
Although Asiamah doesn't have a professional soccer idol, he does admire MetroStars U-16 player, midfielder Jay Fartura.
"I just like the way he plays and everything."
No matter how long Evans lives in America, Ghana will always be in his heart.
"No matter what, it will be part of my life," he said. "No matter what happens I will remember what went on in Ghana. I won't forget a single thing that happened in Ghana."
