Jonathan Mensah spent just one year in the Russian Premier Liga. The two-time World Cup participant with the Ghanaian national team (2010, 2014) joined Anzhi Makhachkala in 2016, helped the team to stay in the RPL through the relegation/promotion playoffs, but at the beginning of 2017 moved to MLS side Columbus Crew. The 30-year-old defender is still playing in the USA, and last year was successful for him – he was named team captain in March and in December won the title with the Crew.

Alongside football victories Mensah is proud of his social activity – he has own foundation, which helps people in his native Ghana, and he is a member of the MLS Black Players for Change organization. After winning the MLS Cup with Columbus Mensah went to Ghana for the vacation and told, how was he living during the pandemic, what joy does he get from the charity, and with whom from Anzhi mates he keeps in contact.

“I aim to bring money for charity myself”

“Last season was very long – from February to December – so I didn’t do activities much and spent more time with my wife and family,” starts Mensah when describing his homeland vacation. “My friends visit me, we play some games – cards, draft, table tennis, other inside games – and go to lunch together.

“It was very difficult to travel from the USA to Ghana in March and April, but in December it was much better. You have to take a COVID test before coming on board and another when you arrive. If all is good, you can leave and go to your house. Everything went smoothly, and I could go back to join my wife and family. During the last year I was living in the USA alone, but this time I will travel with my wife – she could not come to me because of the pandemic.

“The coronavirus affected everyone, but my family did a good job of staying safe and making sure that people around them are healthy. In Ghana we are still keeping social distance, washing hands, and wearing masks. Everything is good now, but in July there was a lockdown, because the number of cases was growing very high [according to the official stats the highest number of infected people per day in Ghana was on 1 August – 1503 – Premierliga.ru]. It actually helped; the cases went down, many people recovered from the virus, and now numbers are much better. It was a great job from the government and frontline workers”.

The Ghanaian people also got help from the Jonathan Mensah foundation: while the player himself was staying in the USA, his wife with the team of helpers was working in Ghana. “We organized some cash, bought hand sanitizers, face masks, water, went to the places where it was needed, and distributed it for free”, the player explains. “My team helped old people who could not go out, some villages, people in the markets. You can see people on the streets without masks, and we supplied it to them, so we were trying to make the country safe from this COVID. We reduced the spread, and everyone will get back to a normal life again.

“A couple of people also contacted us, saying that somewhere the doctors didn’t have enough equipment. When someone came on board, we asked if they could pay for the things. It’s fine if somebody can’t, but people can help with any cash. Most of the time I aim to do it myself: I bring money, and we buy all the stuff. Obviously, I don’t force anybody to bring money, so if you want to help, you can bring whatever money you can.

During this pandemic we came together with some Ghanaian players and helped a lot. I am playing with these guys in the US: David Accam from Nashville, Harrison Afful from Columbus Crew, and Emmanuel Boateng from New England Revolution. We don’t collaborate with guys with whom I played in the national team, but they are also doing some stuff with their foundations and organizations”.

“I want my foundation to grow and go international”

Officially Mensah registered his foundation in 2013, but he started it in 2008/09 at the age of 18, when he was playing for Free State Stars in the South African Premier Division and under-20 Ghanaian national team.

“When I started to play professionally, I could buy football boots or anything I wanted to,” Mensah explains. “Then I saw some other school children who could not afford to buy boots, or even a ball. I decided myself that I needed to create some platform that was going to help people that could not afford all this kind of stuff. That’s how I started my foundation – to empower people to help others that really need help.

“I saw a lot of other people here in Ghana doing the same things, and specifically when it came to players: John Mensah, Michael Essien, Steven Appiah, Asamoah Gyan, and Sulley Muntary. When I became professional at a young age, I told myself; ‘If I also make it, I will help someone else to be able to pursue their goals and dreams. I am thankful to God for providing for others. I feel proud when we put smiles on people’s faces, helping them how I can, making sure that a kid does not go to bed hungry. We provide food and whatever we can to make somebody’s life better, to make changes in people’s lives.

“I want to grow and go international; I want to see other people help. I want to do something that I can for the rest of my life – always making sure that I can help people that need it, especially in my native Ghana. Hopefully, it will spread internationally. I even did something with Columbus Crew: in my first year I won the Humanitarian of the Year award, because of my charity work with my foundation in Columbus, not just in Ghana.

“They rewarded me for all the work I did in Ghana during the off season and what I did in Columbus. We used to go see people in the hospital, also we had a program called “Make a Wish”. The fan could wish like “I wish I could play football with Columbus players.” We arranged and made that happen. I did it a lot in the community, that’s why they give me the award. We still do these activities in Columbus and in Ghana as well.

“This charity work brings me a lot of joy, happiness and satisfaction to my heart and I love doing it, it’s great. It makes you know that life is always about how you help others and how you are willing to make somebody’s life better”.

“We need the diversity, this what make the world turn round”

In 2020 the Black Lives Matter movement also affected football, and MLS players founded the Black Players for Change organization, which Mensah also joined himself.

“Some players came together and discussed, what if they created an association,” Mensah says. “We help innocents and push this movement forward. It’s a great movement to help others that can not afford schools and face inequality. They came together and said to the league what they wanted to do, and MLS supported them.

“This is the start of something great. Now after the union was created, they can draw attention to what is right and what is wrong. It would be great for them to start the conversation, what is good or not, what can we do, how can we change, can we have more black coaches, have black players in authorities, who can also make decisions.

“They have got millions of donations to save places, where there are less privileged kids, especially black kids. They have built a lot of pitches: basketball, football and volleyball ones to help the kids move away from trouble and save the scholarship for the people who can’t afford it.

“We would like to see equality and justice, because this world is good with us loving each other. It’s a great movement which is gonna bring about a lot of change, that is gonna help people to understand more about life and people from other ethnic groups. As you can see all the coaches are white, but it would be good to also see some black, Indian, or Russian coaches – everybody. But if you see all black coaches, this is a problem, as well as when you see all white coaches.

“We need diversity, this is what makes the world turn round. When I came to Anzhi, we had Yannick Boli, Amadu Mutari, Lorenzo Ebecilio, Ivan Maevskiy from Belarus, guys from Dagestan and Serbia – people from all over the world came together to create one team, that is always the best”.

“I learnt to be always helpful to others”

The 2020 MLS regular season started on 29 February but was stopped on 12 March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Mensah, who became Columbus captain before the season, had played just two games, when the season went on pause.

“We were thinking like “Oh my God, are they going to cancel the season?” the Ghanaian remembers. “This pandemic was all over the world, and it was difficult for everybody, every league in the world was shot down. We were in our homes for like two or three months, and it was difficult for all of us. They said that they would cut the salaries. While some were focused on health, others cared about finances and how to feed their families, and some people went out of contract. It was a challenging season, but the league and the president came out with the plan and made it work.

“It was difficult during the lockdown, but at the same time it was new. It was the first time when people around were wearing masks, not shaking hands or hugging anybody. But we had to adjust, learn new things, and we did it. Credit to frontline workers, the doctors, the nurses and everyone that is on the frontline to help minimise the spread. We actually did videos to collaborate with them, and to thank them for their support, help and guidelines. We wanted to do some movements for medical workers, but they advised us to stay indoors and let them handle the situation as best as they could.

“When I was sitting at home, I learnt to always be helpful to others – to pick up the phone, to call people and check on them, like “Hey, how are you doing? How is your family?”, because most of the time we write text messages, but don’t hear the voice of the person, how the person is feeling and talking. I have learnt to communicate more, to check on people more, to make sure that people who need something get it, and to always be there for people.

“I was also reading and meditating a lot, and praying, because after all Zoom sessions you have all your time indoors, not like before when you went outside. I learnt how to cook new stuff, to be more of a team player. You can always improve at something you want to do, so I worked on my mental, spiritual and physical health even more than before.

“I was actually reading a couple of books before the lockdown, but did not finish them, so I had to finish them. They were ‘Rich Dad, Poor Dad’, and ‘Make It Work’. I was watching a lot of series, such as ‘Power’, ‘The Devil Next Door’, ‘World War II’, ‘All or Nothing’ about Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur, ‘How to Get Away with Murder’.

“Winning the MLS Cup was our goal since day one”

MLS resumed the season in July with the MLS is Back tournament in Orlando. All participants – 24 of all 26 teams, as Dallas and Nashville withdrew after several positive tests on COVID-19 – lived in bubble organised in a sport complex at Walt Disney World Resort. Columbus won their group with nine points from three matches but were eliminated in the last 16 by Minnesota in a penalty shootout.

“Obviously it was very lonely and boring, especially after training, when you had to be by yourself in the room,” Mensah recalls. “Some guys love videogames, they played them, but I don’t play them at all, I had to stay alone, read and read, listen to some music, and talk with my family. But at the same time it was a good experience: we got to play games, to train together, get to know each other more as we were in one place doing the same things every day.”

The regular season was restarted in August. Columbus finished third in the Eastern Conference and won the MLS Cup. The Crew, who have been playing in MLS since the inaugural season in 1996, became two-time league champions and got their first title since 2008.

“All the players, coaching staff and management planned from the start of the season that the MLS Cup was the ultimate goal, but it was said we need to go day by day, start from the preseason, then the first game of the season and take each game at a time. It’s been our aim from day one, and we worked so hard. It was a great feeling to see that we achieved our goal.

“We knew that we are one of the teams with the strongest mentality in the league and showed it throughout the season. We got some positive COVID tests, injuries, players were suspended, but we always kept fighting, we did not back down, we always kept our goal and focused on our mission, our vision – that was actually the difference between us and other teams.

“We always go to games determined, look in each other’s faces and say something like “We will not concede today, but we need to score if we want to win.” Going to the playoffs we knew that there was only one game each time, and we couldn’t afford to lose or go to extra time – we just had to go out, fight and get the win, then rest and move to the next game. We did not concede a single goal throughout the three games, and winning the championship is a credit to the whole team and coaching staff, who put together the best game plan for us to go out and perform. It was a collective effort,” the captain explains.

“Ibrahimovic can come after scoring and say to your face: “I told you I would score!”

Before the end of the regular season Columbus re-signed the ex-Anzhi player on a multi-year deal. Mensah feels comfortable living in the USA. “Believe me or not, this is the only place where English is spoken,” the player says. “I do not know what the official languages in South Africa are, but when I came there, they spoke other languages. Wherever you go in the US, there is English language. You hear Spanish and others here, but the main one is English.

“MLS is one of the most properly organised, interesting, fastest-growing and entertaining leagues in the world. Whatever they do, they make sure they do it for their best. It’s great to see that some big names from Europe come to the league to play with the likes of Zlatan, Beckham, Rooney, Gerrard, Lampard, Pirlo and Giovinco. We also have Lucas Zelarayan from Argentina. That shows you how this league is improving and want to go forward and challenge the top leagues around the world. They are doing an incredible job; I urge a lot of people to follow this league.”

Zlatan Ibrahimovic is one of the most memorable opponents for Mensah. He has met him twice – once for Evian against Paris Saint-German in Ligue 1, and again for Columbus against Los Angeles Galaxy in MLS – and beaten the Swedish striker both times.

“He tests you mentally and physically, because he is a big guy,” Mensah says. “The only difference I saw comparing him in France and USA was that he did not move much, he was more clinical – obviously he has been clinical for all his career – but now he ran more. MLS is more running, and Zlatan was doing that running, and I was like “Wow, Zlatan is doing that work.” He is a professional, he is always willing to work hard and to be an example.

“When you tried to go higher than him, he would start talking to you like “Hey, you are small, you are little, I am going to beat you, I am gonna score.” You also follow him and start talking with him. When he actually focuses on the game and gets a goal, he can come and say to your face: “I told you I would score!” You just need to be focused and concentrated. Whenever he talks with you or not, you need to focus. He has done that a couple of times with my teammates, but I have never talked with him. The only time was when our keeper Zach Steffen, who is playing for Manchester City now, went for a challenge on Zlatan, and Ibrahimovic went down looking for a penalty. After that I asked Zlatan if it was a penalty, and he said “No, I do not think so.”

“In South Africa when I sneezed or coughed, I saw blood – I never experienced such cold weather”

Since the age of 18 Mensah has been playing abroad, when he moved from Ghana to the Republic of South Africa.  “It was very difficult, because I was used to living with my family all my life till 18 years old, when I had to travel,” Mensah recalls. “I did not know anybody, just one of my friends with whom I went, and the coach. When I arrived, everything was new: the language, people, culture, food, place, and team. I had to reset my brain and learn everything differently. Our coach left after three months which was really tough, but I went there to work, so I concentrated on it and forced myself to improve, to learn the language and everything.

“It was a challenge I needed to go through before I could go to the next level. For example, I did not experience the cold weather before going to South Africa. Obviously when it’s cold in Ghana, the maximum cold weather would be 20 degrees Celsius. In South Africa it was very cold with snow and ice, and it was the first time for my system. I remember that when I sneezed or coughed, I saw blood.

“I talked with the doctors and they did a quick test and scan and said it was okay, that my nose and system were reacting to the new weather and climate. But I had to move on quickly, there was no time to say something like “Oh, I am sick, I want to go back to Ghana”. It was much better there, the South African league is one of the most developed in Africa, even in the world I would say. It was great for me to move from Ghana to that place, but I had to get used to their weather, system and food, and I adapted very quickly. I had to be strong, and I actually told myself that I would make it and never give up, even if I didn’t understand the language, I would work hard and do extra to get a place in the team, and make them love me. I gained their respect and love”.

“The Dagestan people received me very well – I felt like one of them”

After leaving South Africa Mensah played for Granada in Spanish Segunda B and Evian in French Ligue 1, and in February 2016 he signed with Anzhi Makhachkala. The team was spending its first season after coming back to the RPL from the FNL but was battling for staying alive; they were 14th before the second part of the season.

“The project that Anzhi proposed to me was nice,” the player tells. “It was a team that had played in the Europa League in previous years, beating Liverpool. They needed some people to help them to stay in the RPL. I like challenges, so when they proposed it to me, I said: “Okay, this is the challenge. It  will be difficult, but I would like to take it and help the team stay in the RPL.” That was one of the things that drew my interest and attention to come to Anzhi.

“I had heard a little bit about the team before. It was a great team obviously led by a great coach in Guus Hiddink and captain Samuel Eto’o, and there were good players around them: Willian, Lacina Traore, Boussoufa and others. They really did well, because they qualified for the Europa League and brought attention to the city Makhachkala. It was a great project for them. Before joining the team, I spoke with Yannick Boli and Amadu Mutari and asked them how the place and team was, whether i was going to enjoy it, and if the team was willing to help on and off the field. It was interesting what they told me, and from what I experienced it was great.

“It was an unusual experience for me, because wherever we played at home or away, we had to travel all the time. The team was based and trained in Moscow, then flew to Makhachkala, played games and flew back to Moscow. I had no choice, that was something, I was told by the management and the technical team. We, the players, needed to respond with that and make it work. It was not easy, but that was the situation I had, and we handled it.

“Moscow is a big city, a busy city, but also nice with a lot of history and beautiful places to see. Sometimes when we were free, I used to visit more, but in the meantime was always indoors. I used to go with a couple of friends to Red Square, because it is very big, and you see a lot of tourists and international people there. That place was really nice to spend your time, taking some cool and nice pictures. There was nothing that left me feeling uncomfortable, only the traffic in Moscow was very, very intense. If you are going to do something, you need to leave home very early or you are going to be late because of the traffic.

“My main memory about Dagestan was the people. They love people, they are so warming and welcoming. They received me very well. The way they treated me, I felt like one of them, despite not being from there. I loved their fighting spirit. When I went there, I realised it is one big place where they develop a lot of champions for the Olympic Games, UFC and so on. I got interested to know more about it and realised that they had one of the best UFC pound-for-pound fighters in the world ever in Khabib Nurmagomedov.

“He used to go to some of our games even. We played a game when the team was celebrating its 25th birthday, and he came around. I think he had come back from one fight. Everyone was cheering him at the stadium, and before the start of the game he just came to the dressing room to say hello to everyone and that was it. It was a really great experience to meet him in person”.

“Belenov is such a great goalkeeper and even better human being”

Yannick Boli and Amadu Mutari had been playing for Anzhi since the FNL campaign, so they became not only advisors for Mensah before his move to Makhachkala, but also close friends after. “We spent some time together, tried to do some dance moves together, and it was nice,” remembers Mensah. “Some of the guys actually danced on the pitch, and it was interesting to see that they are happy and making the fans happy.

“Me, Boli and Mutari never danced, we were just happy for the win, and that’s it. But when we played the second leg of the relegation/promotion playoff against Volgar and stayed in the RPL, everyone started to do the same dance. I tried to repeat the movements from their national dance, but that was not easy, so I left it to the guys that could do it.

“From the Russian-speaking guys I mostly communicated with Ivan Maevskiy. Even though he was not born in Russia, he had been playing here some time before. I also remember Zhirov and Belenov, he is such a great goalkeeper and even better human being. He was always the first to come and ask if you needed something or wanted to talk. He knows that if the person does not come from Russia, he might need some help. He would come to me and ask “Hey, Jona! If you need something, let me know.” I asked for some things that I needed, and when he went to town or in Moscow, he bought it. When we were in Makhachkala, I always stayed at Anzhi Arena and did not go to town, but he was living in the town and used to go out to buy some things in the supermarket.

“I remember he saved penalties three games in a row during that year. I think he is brave and actually big in size. He always reads the player that is going to take the penalty. His anticipation is very, very good. If he sees the player’s mind go in one direction, he goes there, and his determination and focus help him to save those penalties.”

“Vrba was really close to the players, that’s why we got the best out of the team”

Mensah spent the first part of his Anzhi career working with club legend Ruslan Agalarov. After staying in the RPL the head coach position was taken by Pavel Vrba, who worked at Euro 2016 with the Czech Republic national team before moving to Russia. Anzhi finished the first half of the 2016/17 season 11th in the RPL, but stole points from CSKA Moscow, Zenit St. Petersburg and FC Krasnodar, and also defeated Zenit 4-0 in the Russian Cup.

“Vrba’s strengths are communicating with the players, making sure that players have what they want. He knows how to handle the dressing room, and how to make sure that everyone is happy,” Mensah explains. “Obviously not everyone will play, but he always explains things to the players, and it is always good to see that. Outside coaching on the field, he always makes sure that players are getting what they deserve, if salaries are coming early. He said things like “Hey, guys, if there is something you want to tell me or the president directly, let me know.” He was really close to the players, that’s why we got the best out of the team.

“I remember during the home game against Zenit he was very emotional, there were just two set pieces and they scored. He was shouting “Hey, pick yourselves up!” When you come to the dressing room playing at home and are losing 2-0, the coach will definitely be emotional, and will show it in front of the whole team”.

Anzhi conceded both Zenit goals from Artem Dzyuba, but the Makhachkala team drew level and got a point. The next month Anzhi eliminated the Blue-White-Sky Blues from the Russian Cup last 16 with 4-0 victory, and, as Mensah mentioned in an interview with Bombardir website, during the game Dzyuba was trying to talk with Jonathan in French.

“I did not really listen to him much, I was concentrating on winning every battle, and that’s what I did,” Mensah says. “There were a couple of opponents who spoke to me, just quick chat, and that was it. Obviously, I don’t talk much. Whether it is somebody I know or not, it’s just for a few seconds, and then we just concentrate on the game and move on.

I remember Spartak had a strong team that season with some great players, a couple of great quality international players, and their movement was very good. They all moved in every direction, filling each line; it was very difficult to play against them. I think Smolov was also a good player. My first game in Russia was against Amkar, a good team that ran a lot of. I also remember Rostov, some of their players were really good like Azmoun, and Noboa”.

“I wish I could see Anzhi back in the top flight”

During the winter break of 2016/17 season Anzhi suffered changes. On 26 December Osman Kadiev became the club’s new president, and four days later Vrba and his assistants left. The next one to move from Makhachkala was Mensah: on 3 January his transfer to Columbus Crew was completed.

“If the management, coaching stuff and everything else were the same, I believe they would still be in the RPL, although not on top of the table, obviously,” the Ghanaian admits. “They needed to invest and buy quality players to improve the team, so they could compete up the table. Then there were a few changes: players left, salaries were delayed. I believed that was the right moment for me to move on to something else. The offer and project that Columbus presented were interesting, I discussed it with my family and agent, and we made it happen.

“I believe they were trying to build a new team, so they were looking to sell a couple of guys. They got the offer from Columbus, and it was not difficult for them to agree. I helped the team stay in the RPL, and when that offer came for me, they were interested in going for it, so that’s what they did.

“I follow the club, but not in detail. I believe they are playing in the lower divisions. I follow some guys on Instagram, once in a while I message Zhirov, Maevskiy, Boli, Amadu and some others on there. Playing and wearing the jersey and representing the Eagles every day was always special for me. I was always proud to represent the yellow and green, go on the pitch and play. These are the moments I will cherish for the rest of my life, because they were a part of my journey.

“I want to thank Anzhi fans so much for accepting me. Russia is a great country with great people who welcomed me very warmly. I wish them nothing but the best, I wish them a great upcoming season and they should continue to be great as they always have been. An especially big thanks to the fans in Dagestan and Makhachkala. I wish I could see Anzhi back in the top flight doing very well, making progress and top moves”.