Interview: Lamin Jawneh (#19 NY Cosmos)
- Emilio Lopez
- 2 hours ago
- 10 min read
June 3, 2026 (Paterson, NJ)
On May 14, 2026 the Cosmos announced the signing of former Texoma FC winger Lamin Jawneh. We sat down with the Banjul, The Gambia native to discuss his career and his move to the Cosmos.
Jawneh has had extensive experience at both the USL Championship and USL League One levels. He has also played in Greece and the Dominican Republic during his professional career. Jawneh is known for his explosive speed, versatility, and ability to stretch opposing defenses.
Lamin Jawneh comes across as a motivated player who wants to make a name for himself with the Cosmos. An experienced veteran who has seen much of the US Soccer landscape, he adds much needed speed and power to the Cosmos attack.
Cosmos Interest:
Lamin Jawneh first heard of the Cosmos interest at the conclusion of his season with Texoma FC. Once it was announced that Texoma FC, would not be returning in 2026 to USL League One, his coach at the time, Adrian Forbes informed Lamin of the Cosmos interest in signing him. However, the move was not finalized as weeks later Cosmos informed his agent that they had decided to sign younger players.
After the 2025 season Jawneh returned to his home country for family matters before returning to his home in Atlanta, where he continued to train in hopes of finding a new club. Jawneh indicated he had an offer from Forward Madison, but had decided to turn it down. A week later he would once again hear from the Cosmos. His agent contacted him about the Cosmos new approach, and Lamin was cautious as last time the offer never came. A former teammate reached out to Lamin to confirm the club’s interest, and Lamin decided to accept the tryout invitation with Cosmos in early May. A week later Lamin was offered a contract and he put pen to paper and signed.
Why he Chose Cosmos and his ambitions with the Club:
Lamin expressed that the chance to play for Cosmos was something he couldn’t turn down.
Lamin said, “Being a kid coming to America, thinking of playing for a team in America, Cosmos is a big name, and playing for Cosmos is big. One of my favorite players is Pele, and him having played in the same team where I play is a privilege That’s why when the Madison offer came, I just jumped to Cosmos. I was like, nah, I don’t want Madison, I will go to Cosmos.”
He further stated that he wants to make the most of his time with Cosmos and make a name for himself with the club. With the mindset that he never knows which season will be his last, he wants to score as many goals and provide as many assists as possible for the Cosmos. He further stated: “You always want to finish off great, hopefully when promotion-relegation is in place, I want to be part of American football development. I started with PDL, NPSL, before USL. It would be good for my career if I could finish it off strong and be a part of the growth.”
Career Background:
Lamin Jawneh was born in Banjul and began playing football at an early age. Lamin said, “I started playing since I was a kid. Back home in Africa, that’s all we know, like at seven years old”. He started playing organized soccer with local club teams and represented Gambia at the U-13 level against other African nations. His play didn’t go unnoticed by the Gambian Football Federation and he began to play with local professional clubs including Elite United FC in Banjul. He went on to say, “I played all the levels in Gambia when I was really young. Soccer in Africa is different. If they see you, you got talent, you cannot play with your age mates, they just push you with the older players.”
At the age of 15 or 16 Lamin moved to the United States to join his mother who was living in Alabama. Lamin started to play club soccer with Rocket City United in Alabama. As he was homeschooled, he did not play high school soccer. He said not playing in High School made it difficult to get attention from college programs, but his play with Rocket City allowed him to get offers from the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH), the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), and Bethel University in Tennessee.
Lamin decided to pursue a professional career, and started playing with local NPSL side Inter Nashville, and later with SGFC Eagles Maryland. Soon after he was offered to go to a tryout in Greece with Ialysos F.C. in the Greek 3rd Division. He impressed during the tryout and was signed by the club, after being a regular contributor for the side during the first half of the season he was sent on loan to fellow Greek side Phoebus Kremasti. Lamin said that his play in Greece helped him attract the interest of some German sides. However, Lamin had to return to the United States due to Visa issues. As a result of the Visa situation, he decided to remain in the United States. He had a tryout with Atlanta United 2, and was eventually signed by the club, this allowed Lamin to make his debut in the USL Championship. Lamin has since then received his US citizenship.
Lamin remained in Atlanta for one season, and after that joined Moca FC in the Dominican Republic top flight. Lamin said the move to the DR came about after someone saw his video highlights, which led to his agent being contacted and agreeing to a move to the island club. Lamin was an important player for Moca, he appeared in 25 matches and scored 4 goals playing as a winger.
Jawneh commented on the level of play in the DR: “In Dominican Republic, the level is physical, more physical. Me coming from playing with Atlanta United and then going to the Dominican Republic, the level with Atlanta definitely was higher. I wanted to try it out, seeing how they play. It was technical also; they have very technical players over there.”
After one season out of the country, Jawneh joined top USL Championship side Phoenix Rising FC. Initially he signed with Phoenix on a short-term contract, he impressed coach Rick Schantz and his contract was extended to the end of the 2022 season. Jawneh commented on his time with Phoenix, “Phoenix, they had a lot of top-level players, but they needed help at the time. When I came in over there, I fit in really perfectly. The coach, he was very nice, he helped me a lot over there.” “The level was good; it was a very good level.”
At the end of the season Jawneh returned to Atlanta, looking for another opportunity that made sense. Eventually he signed with local NISA side Georgia Lions. He was an important player for Georgia appearing as starter in all the teams matches. Speaking about this time in his career, he said, “It was kind of hard to find a team, a team that will make you comfortable to play, to just focus on football, so then I went back to Georgia. I call Georgia my home in America, that’s where my family and friends are. Georgia Lions were the team in Georgia, and they wanted to grow, they had a plan of building to move to USL. I said why not help them build.”
For the 2025 season Jawneh returned to the USL, this time to USL League One, signing with expansion side Texoma FC. While with Texoma Lamin appeared in 31 matches with 2 goals and 5 assists. Speaking on his time with the Texas club, Lamin said, “Texoma was really nice. I love the Texas weather, and then you know it was unfortunate they couldn’t come back the next season, but it was a good team and a good experience, and we were building something good over there.”
Jawneh, who has played as a winger throughout his career, also played as a fullback with Texoma. He commented on what it was like playing as a fullback; “It felt really great. I feel playing fullback requires a lot of fitness, a lot of running. I mostly do that in every game, you know. I was like why not, it wasn’t bad.” He continued, “It started with the coach (Adrian Forbes), he said let me test you there and see how it works. He tested me there and in my first match at the position I was Man of the Match. The fans loved my performance, and coach played me at that position a couple of more times.”
Where he is at Physically:
Lamin was asked how it felt to start three matches in one week right after joining Cosmos without having a pre-season or having played since October.
Lamin responded; “To be honest, it’s not easy, if not for my experience, all my years of playing and then always keeping my body in shape, I wouldn’t have been able to do it. After my season in October, I was out, I went on vacation and then just coming back. I didn’t have a preseason, others had a month and a half to prepare for the season, I didn’t.” When asked where he is at right know, Lamin said, “Right now, playing in those three games, I would say I’m like at 70%.” He also said that he would be ready for the weekend as he has a full week of practice, which makes a big difference.
What we can expect from Lamin:
When asked what can be expected of him for the rest of the season, Lamin responded:
“I’m not even 100% fit yet and I’m not struggling going past people. Imagine when I’m fully fit, I’m coming at them and we have a very good striker (Guenzatti) that can finish. We’re building a good connection together and hopefully it will be really good. I will supply him a lot of balls and assists for sure.”
Turning the season around:
Lamin was asked what he thinks Cosmos need to turn things around and start to get positive results.
“I think the experience is a little bit lacking, we need more experience on the team, but I think we are developing. At first the communication was lacking but it’s getting better.”
He thinks that the fact he didn’t have a pre-season and is still giving his all can motivate the team. He said his teammates are working hard and he told them to not let him outwork them.
Realistic Chance of making the Play-offs:
Lamin responded on the Cosmos chances of moving up the table and making the playoffs after a tough start:
“No, for sure. It’s a long season, and then you look at the league, everybody beats everybody. Then for us, we have a point to prove, so we need points. Once we start that winning streak, we’re just going to keep going.”
“The whole mentality is focused on winning. Even if we don’t play beautiful soccer, we will try to win every game.”
Playing Hartford this weekend:
Lamin was asked if the club feels it can get a result this weekend if it corrects some issues against USL Championship side Hartford Athletic in a USL Cup match.
“Yeah, yeah, I believe we can. I know the guys over there; we can put up a fight. They are not really at their best level right now; we will take advantage of that. We need a result right now. Its not going to be easy for any team playing us now, because we are hungry for a result.”
Adjustment to a new team:
I asked Lamin about his adjustment to a new team and if the familiarity with many Texoma FC teammates has helped.
”Yeah, it helps a lot. It just felt like I fit right in. When I came in it was like everybody knew me already. Everyone has been so nice; they are great people. They actually helped me be comfortable and helped me take care of things.”
Player who has surprised him the most:
When questioned as to if there was a player on the team, he was unfamiliar with whose level has surprised him, Lamin responded:
”I would say Koffi. I didn’t know Koffi, but his level surprised me. He is good.”
After missing the last few games, Lamin expects Koffi to be back for the weekend. He commented, “No, he is good. He will be good this season. He had just played a lot of games and to prevent injury he was given some days off.”
On the team morale and some things going against the team:
I asked Lamin on what he thought of the match against Sarasota, which included a free kick goal by Sarasota, but replays show there was no foul on the play in which the free kick was awarded.
“If you look at it, it is very hard. You come in, you put everything in, and at the end of the day, you have the referee over there. If you think of the last game, we had a penalty. They pulled Seba when he was facing the goal to shoot.”
“We have to go twice as hard on the field, to avoid things from happening. Right now, we are all locked in to just work as hard as we can and then just win games. We all know we didn’t deserve the results from the last games.”
Ajmeer Spengler, and chemistry with him:
I mentioned how his former Texoma teammate Ajmeer Spengler is off to a great start and their understanding on the field.
“Our chemistry is very good. He’s a great player, and he always works hard also. We have a connection, most of the time he knows where I’m going to be on the field.”
“Even when I came in for the tryout, they put us on the same team. They could see the connection; it was just natural.”
His impressions on the NY/NJ area:
Lamin was asked on his impressions of the NY/NJ area and if he has been here before. He responded that he had never been in the area before, with the exception being when he came to play in the area. He said it is very different from Atlanta, and didn’t know what to expect. When asked if he has had time to adjust, he said:
“Not yet. Because we had three games in one week and then travelling and coming back. I haven’t gotten the time to even go to the city or to see places.”
Message to the Supporters:
Lamin had a message for the Cosmos supporters.
“The thing I’m going to tell the fans is, let us keep hope no matter what, their support is really important. Through the good and the bad we need their support. Let them keep the fight, we are all fighting this together”.
“Nobody wants to have bad results. Everyone is fighting to get positive results. We need their support as much as we need ourselves working on the field. Keep the faith as things will turn around.”
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