Stephen Appiah

Stephen Appiah
Stephen Appiah in 2006
Personal information
Full name Stephen Appiah
Date of birth (1980-12-24) 24 December 1980 (age 44)
Place of birth Accra, Ghana
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s) Midfielder
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1995–1997 Hearts of Oak 21 (19)
1997–2000 Udinese 36 (0)
2000–2003 Parma 28 (0)
2002–2003 → Brescia (loan) 31 (7)
2003–2005 Juventus 48 (3)
2005–2008 Fenerbahçe 64 (11)
2009–2010 Bologna 2 (0)
2010–2011 Cesena 14 (0)
2012 Vojvodina 11 (1)
Total 255 (41)
International career
1995 Ghana U17
1995–1996 Ghana U20
1996–2010 Ghana 67 (15)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Stephen Appiah (born 24 December 1980) is a Ghanaian football player. He played for Ghana national team. Appiah was a talented, tenacious, and physically strong, all-round box-to-box midfielder, who was capable of defending well, as well as orchestrating attacks, creating chances for teammates, and even scoring goals himself, due to his vision, technique, aggressive tackling, athletic attributes, stamina, and his powerful and accurate shot from distance with his right foot. A versatile, powerful, and hard-working player, he was capable of playing anywhere in midfield, and adapting himself to several different formations, but usually operated in the centre of the pitch. Regarded as one of the best African football players of all time.[according to whom?]

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition[1]
Club Season League Cup Continental Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Udinese 1997–98 Serie A 11 0 0 0 – – 11 0
1998–99 21 0 6 3 – 2[a] 0 29 3
1999–00 4 0 0 0 1 0 – 5 0
Total 36 0 6 3 1 0 2 0 45 3
Parma 2000–01 Serie A 15 0 5 1 6 1 – 26 2
2001–02 13 0 3 0 7 0 – 23 0
Total 28 0 8 1 13 1 0 0 49 2
Brescia (loan) 2002–03 Serie A 31 7 1 0 0 0 – 32 7
Juventus 2003–04 Serie A 30 1 8 0 7 0 1[b] 0 46 1
2004–05 18 2 2 0 3 0 – 23 2
Total 48 3 10 0 10 0 1 0 69 3
Fenerbahçe 2005–06 Süper Lig 32 8 6 1 6 2 – 44 11
2006–07 26 3 1 0 10 3 – 37 6
2007–08 6 0 1 0 2 0 – 9 0
Total 64 11 8 1 18 5 0 0 90 17
Bologna 2009–10 Serie A 2 0 0 0 0 0 – 2 0
Cesena 2010–11 Serie A 14 0 1 0 0 0 – 15 0
Vojvodina 2011–12 SuperLiga 11 1 2 0 0 0 – 13 1
Career total 234 22 36 5 42 6 3 0 315 33
  1. ↑ Two appearances in season UEFA Cup qualification
  2. ↑ One appearance in 2003 Supercoppa Italiana.

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year[1]
National team Year Apps Goals
Ghana 1995 1 0
1996 0 0
1997 0 0
1998 2 0
1999 1 0
2000 5 1
2001 5 2
2002 2 0
2003 5 3
2004 5 2
2005 7 2
2006 16 2
2007 3 1
2008 3 1
2009 7 1
2010 5 0
Total 67 15

Honours

Hearts of Oak[2]

  • Ghana Premier League: 1996–97
  • Ghanaian FA Cup: 1996

Parma[2]

Juventus[2]

Fenerbahçe[2]

Ghana U17[2]

  • FIFA U-17 World Championship: 1995

Individual

  • SWAG Most Promising Football Star of the Year: 1997[3][4]
  • Summer Olympic Football All-Star Team: 2004[5]
  • Ghana Footballer of the Year: 2005, 2007
  • Footballer of the Year in Turkey: 2007
  • African Cup of Nations Team of the Tournament: 2006[6]

Notes

  1. ↑ The 2004–05 title, was revoked following the Calciopoli scandal.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Appiah, Stephen". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmerman.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Stephen Appiah at Soccerway
  3. ↑ Provencal, E. N. O. (4 January 1997). The Mirror: Issue 2,197 January 4, 1997. Graphic Communications Group.
  4. ↑ Provencal, E. N. O. (22 February 1997). The Mirror: Issue 2,304 February 22, 1997. Graphic Communications Group.
  5. ↑ "Olympic Football All-Star Team". FIFA. Archived from the original on 27 August 2004. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
  6. ↑ "All-Star Team of the Tournament". CAF. Retrieved 20 June 2020.