David Opoku

David Opoku
Personal information
Full name David Osei Opoku
Date of birth (1992-01-31) 31 January 1992 (age 32)
Place of birth Accra, Ghana
Height 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Position(s) Forward
Team information
Current team
 Muaither SC
Number 11
Youth career
Achimota School
2010–2011 UC Santa Barbara Gauchos
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2012 MYPA 13 (0)
2012 → IF Gnistan (loan) 6 (7)
2014 Sanat Mes Kerman F.C. 3 (0)
2015 Al Egtmaaey Tripoli 17 (10)
2016 Tripoli SC 10 (5)
2017–2018 Muaither SC 4 (1)
International career‡
2011–2014 Ghana U23 3
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 20:55, 1 November 2016 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 22:34, 4 January 2016 (UTC)

David Osei Opoku (born 31 January 1992) is a Ghanaian professional footballer who currently plays as a forward for Muaither SC.

Early life and education

Opoku played for Achimota School in Accra, Ghana and trained with Chelsea FC in England[1] before moving to the United States to play college football for the University of California, Santa Barbara. He spent 2 seasons with the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos men's soccer team. He was the 2010 Big West Conference Freshman of the Year and named to the 2010 All-Big West Second Team.[2] He ended his career with the Gauchos with 15 goals and 7 assists.

Career

After a few months of trials,[3] Opoku signed a contract with Finnish Veikkausliiga club Myllykosken Pallo −47 in April 2012.[4][5] He played in 13 Veikkausliiga matches with the club, scoring no goals.[6] He did score in his lone 2012–13 UEFA Europa League appearance on 12 July 2012 against Cefn Druids A.F.C.[7][8]

Opoku was sent on loan to IF Gnistan, who play in the Finnish Kakkonen, in August 2012 to see out the remainder of his contract where he scored 7 goals in 10 matches.[9][10]

He joined Iranian club Sanat Mes Kerman F.C. on a short-term deal in March 2014 and recorded one assist during his time with the club.[11]

In Fall 2015, he signed for Lebanese Premier League side Al Egtmaaey Tripoli.[12]

He then joined rivals Tripoli SC the following year.[13]

In the summer of 2017, he signed with Qatar Stars League club Muaither SC.[14]

International

David was called up to train with the Ghana national under-23 football team in June 2011 when he was still enrolled at UC Santa Barbara.[15][16][17] He appeared in an exhibition against Deportivo FC and scored a goal.[18] He was again called up to camp with the national team in October 2014 and made the trip to Nigeria to play against the Nigerian senior national team in a friendly played in honor of the opening of the Akwa Ibom international stadium. He made a second-half appearance in the game and nearly equalized.[19][20]

Honours

Individual

References

  1. ^ Gyimah, Edmund Okai (14 November 2012). "I'm working towards Black Stars call-up - Former Chelsea youth team striker David Opoku". Goal.com. Retrieved 11 September 2014.
  2. ^ "UC Santa Barbara Nearly Pulls Off Men's Soccer Award Sweep" (PDF). Big West Conference. 16 November 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 September 2014. Retrieved 4 September 2014.
  3. ^ Eskilson, J.R. (18 April 2012). "Former UC Santa Barbara striker David Opoku signs with Finnish club Myllkosken Pallo". TopDrawerSoccer. Retrieved 4 September 2014.
  4. ^ "OPOKU MYPAAN" (in Finnish). Archived from the original on 11 May 2012. Retrieved 14 April 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  5. ^ "Opoku MYPA:an". Veikkausliiga (in Finnish). 12 April 2012. Archived from the original on 4 September 2014. Retrieved 4 September 2014.
  6. ^ "MYPAn Opoku osui jälleen Kakkosessa". Veikkausliiga (in Finnish). 9 September 2012. Archived from the original on 23 October 2014. Retrieved 4 January 2016.
  7. ^ "Footballdatabase player profile". Footballdatabase.eu. Retrieved 11 September 2014.
  8. ^ "ESPN FC player profile". ESPNFC.com. Retrieved 11 September 2014.
  9. ^ "Ennakko: LPS – Gnistan". IF Gnistan (in Finnish). 29 August 2012. Retrieved 3 September 2014.
  10. ^ "Opoku loppukaudeksi MYPAsta Gnistaniin". Veikkausliiga (in Finnish). 1 September 2012. Archived from the original on 4 September 2014. Retrieved 4 September 2014.
  11. ^ جدول عملکرد بازیکنان مس در فصل گذشته. fcmes.com (in Persian). 21 April 2014. Archived from the original on 11 September 2014. Retrieved 11 September 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  12. ^ Akoto, Patrick (9 September 2015). "EXCLUSIVE: Ex-Ghana U23 striker David Opoku agrees two-year deal with Lebanese side Al-Ijtimai Tripoli". ghanasoccernet.com. Retrieved 4 January 2016.
  13. ^ "David Opoku on target for AC Tripoli". ghanaweb.com. 11 September 2016. Retrieved 14 August 2017.
  14. ^ "David Opoku completes move to Muaither SC". ghanaweb.com. 8 August 2017. Retrieved 14 August 2017.
  15. ^ "Opoku Called Up to Ghana U-23 National Team Camp". UC Santa Barbara Gauchos. 21 June 2011. Retrieved 4 September 2014.
  16. ^ Punzal, Barry (21 June 2011). "presidiosports.com/2011/06/ghana-calls-in-opoku-to-u-23-national-team/". Presidio Sports. Retrieved 4 September 2014.
  17. ^ "US-based college footballer David Opoku in Ghana U23 team". Ghanasoccernet. 22 June 2011. Retrieved 4 September 2014.
  18. ^ "Meteors rain goals on Deportivo in friendly win". ghanasoccernet.com. 6 July 2011. Retrieved 11 September 2014.
  19. ^ "Ghana team for Nigeria friendly". newtelegraphonline.com. 3 November 2014. Archived from the original on 10 November 2014. Retrieved 10 November 2014.
  20. ^ "Opoku confident of a Ghana win against Nigeria". allsports.com.gh. 7 November 2014. Archived from the original on 10 November 2014. Retrieved 10 November 2014.