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)
National team
1995	Ghana U17
1995–1996	Ghana U20
1996–2010	Ghana	67	(15)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

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]

• Coppa Italia: 2001–02

Juventus^[2]

• Serie A: 2004–05[nb 1]
• Supercoppa Italiana: 2003

Fenerbahçe^[2]

• Süper Lig: 2006–07
• Turkish Super Cup: 2007

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. "Appiah, Stephen". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmerman.
2. 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.