Silver Spring’s Joe Gyau rising up European soccer ranks

When Philip Gyau watches his son play soccer, he sees his own father.

“Joe plays like him,” Philip says with a warm smile. “He is built like him — strong and big, thick legs and calves. It’s his grandfather out there.”

(Katherine Frey/The Washington Post) - Joe Gyau with his father, Phillip, who played for Gwynn Park, Howard University the U.S. national team. Joe’s grandfather also played professionally.

Joseph-Claude Gyau, 20, has followed in the Silver Spring family business: playing pro soccer, though not in the United States. After 18 months in Germany’s proving grounds, Bundesliga club Hoffenheim rewarded him last spring with a three-year contract.

He is on loan this season to second-division St. Pauli, continuing an adventure that began in the parks of Montgomery County and, through Philip’s global travels as a player and coach for the U.S. beach soccer team, exposed him to a tapestry of cultures and styles.

“I try to carry the torch,” Joe Gyau (pronounced “jow”) said while home during a brief winter break. “I never doubt that I am going to do it.”

He is well on his way to surpassing his elders.

Philip, 46, starred at Gwynn Park High School and Howard University before toiling in indoor and lower-tier outdoor leagues. He made six appearances for the U.S. national team, culminating in a 1991 friendly against North Korea at RFK Stadium.

Philip’s father, Joseph “Nana” Gyau, 75, scored for Ghana in the 1964 Olympics and was a member of the foreign legion that landed on American shores in the late 1960s to kick-start the pro game. He played for the Washington Whips, Darts and Diplomats, as well as the Baltimore Bays. He earned a degree at the University of Maryland, operated banks and businesses and oversaw a local referees association.

Since 1999, Nana has lived in Ghana, where, through family lineage, he is a local king presiding over an area in the western region of the country. He also is the nation’s former minister of sport.

A father's guidance

Joe blends speed, strength and technical skills. Philip, on the other hand, was a swift and direct forward who breezed past defenders with confidence and grace. In 1990, playing for the Columbia-based Maryland Bays, he was voted the MVP of the American Professional Soccer League.

Growing up, Joe would obsessively watch a VHS tape of his father’s exploits. “It wasn’t just another highlight tape; it was my father,” he said. Together, father and son also studied tapes of the world’s greatest attackers.

Philip’s influence continues. When Joe was home for the holidays, Philip took him to Walter Johnson High School for track work and to Wootton High to run hills. Yes, a German-based professional earning a handsome salary was accepting instruction from his dad while on vacation.

“He has done everything for me,” Joe said of his father, who coached at St. John’s High School and Bullis for several years and, since 1997, has operated the Next Level Development instructional program for ages 6 to 14.

Philip also instructed Joe’s elite youth team, the Bethesda Roadrunners. And between ages 7 and 12, Joe accompanied him to Rio de Janeiro and watched the beach tournaments. Mesmerized by the technique, Philip enrolled Joe in a camp run by Zico, a Brazilian icon. On a trip to Monaco, Joe met French legend Eric Cantona.