Ebrima Darboe was born in Bakoteh, a district of Serekunda in The Gambia.[2][3][4] He left his birth country aged 14, alone, arriving in Libya,[3][5] before sailing to Sicily, Italy, where he arrived as a refugee after a six-month journey.[6][7]
In Italy, Darboe was taken in charge by the SPRAR [it] – a service from the Italian ministry of the Interior – as an unaccompanied underage migrant and ended in Rieti, where he started playing with amateur club Young Rieti.[6][8]
Club career
Darboe joined Italian club Roma in summer 2017, making his primavera debut for the youth team in January 2019.[6][9][10] Darboe signed his first professional contract with Roma the following July, having just turned eighteen.[3][6][10] He first featured on as an unused substitute in Roma's 2–1 Serie A home victory against Milan on 27 October 2019.[5][6][10] Darboe scored his first goal for the under-19 side in October 2020,[2] and got an additional brace later that month in the Campionato Primavera.[11][12]
Darboe made his professional debut for the club on 2 May 2021, coming off the bench for the final ten minutes of Roma's 2–0 defeat against Sampdoria.[13] On 6 May, Darboe made his UEFA Europa League debut against Manchester United, in the second leg of the semi-finals.[14] Darboe played in the Derby della Capitale against rivals Lazio on 15 May, becoming the first player born in the 2000s to do so.[15]
On 26 October 2020, while still a youth team player for Roma, Darboe received his first senior call-up for the Gambia national team by head coach Tom Saintfiet.[18] He debuted for the Gambia in a 2–0 friendly win over Niger on 6 June 2021.[19]
Darboe was selected to the Gambia squad for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations, his national team's first continental tournament, where they made a sensational quarter-final.[20][21]
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