Kwame Ayew

Kwame Ayew
Personal information
Full name Kwame Ayew
Date of birth (1973-12-28) 28 December 1973
Place of birth Tamale, Ghana
Height 1.79 m (5 ft 10 1⁄2 in)
Playing position Striker
Youth career
1990 Africa Sports
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1990–1992 Metz
1992–1993 Al Ahli 22 (14)
1993–1995 Lecce 34 (7)
1995–1996 União Leiria 13 (1)
1996–1997 Vitória Setúbal 23 (8)
1997–1999 Boavista 56 (31)
1999–2000 Sporting CP 26 (7)
2000–2001 Yozgatspor 19 (11)
2001–2002 Kocaelispor 28 (10)
2002–2003 Shenyang Ginde 28 (14)
2004–2006 Inter Shanghai 56 (26)
2007 Vitória Setúbal 12 (3)
Total 317 (132)
National team
1992–2001 Ghana 25 (9)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.


Olympic medal record
Men's Football
1992 Barcelona Team Competition

Kwame Ayew (Akan: pronunciation: /æˈjjuː/ a-YEW; born 28 December 1973) is a Ghanaian retired footballer who played as a striker.

During nearly 20 years he played professionally in six countries, mainly in Portugal where he appeared for four teams in the 90s, amassing top division totals of 131 games and 51 goals over the course of six seasons.

Club career

Born in Tamale, Ayew started playing professionally in France at only 17, spending a couple of Ligue 1 seasons with FC Metz, then moved to Qatar with Al Ahli SC and played in another country in the following two years, Italy, appearing and scoring sparingly for U.S. Lecce (for instance, he netted four goals in 1993–94's Serie A as his club ranked last with only 28 goals, a competition-worst).

Ayew moved to Portugal in 1995, and would remain there in the following five years. He started with U.D. Leiria and Vitória de Setúbal, then impressed at Boavista F.C. also in the top division, scoring 15 times in 27 games in his second season to earn his team a best-ever at the time runner-up place, behind neighbours F.C. Porto.

After nearly 50 official goals for the Checquereds, Ayew moved to country giants Sporting Clube de Portugal. Even though he was never an automatic first-choice (having to battle for a starting berth with Alberto Acosta, Edmilson and Mbo Mpenza[1]), he netted seven goals in 13 starts as the Lions ended an 18-year drought and conquered the national championship.[2]

In the following years Ayew would play in Turkey (two seasons) and China (five), rarely settling with a club. In January 2007 the 33-year-old returned to former side Setúbal, contributing solidly as the Sadinos avoided top flight relegation by one point; he retired from the game shortly after.

International career

Ayew was a member of the Ghana national football team that won the bronze medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, scoring six goals in as many games.[3] In total, he won 25 senior caps.

Personal life

Football runs in Ayew's family: his brothers Abedi and Sola also played football, the former spending a big part of his career with Olympique de Marseille. His nephews, André, Rahim and Jordan, also played the sport professionally.[4]

Club statistics

[5]

Season Club Nation Match Goals
90/91 Metz France ? ?
90/92 Metz France ? ?
92/93 Al Ahli Qatar 22 14
93/94 Lecce Italy 18 3
94/95 Lecce Italy 16 4
95/96 União Leiria Portugal 13 1
96/97 Vitória Setúbal Portugal 23 8
97/98 Boavista Portugal 29 16
98/99 Boavista Portugal 27 15
99/00 Sporting Portugal 26 7
00/01 Yozgatspor Turkey 19 11
01/02 Kocaelispor Turkey 28 10
2003 Shenyang Ginde China 28 14
2004 Inter Shanghai China 20 17
2005 Inter Shanghai China 23 8
2006 Inter Xian China 13 1
2007 Vitória Setúbal Portugal 12 3

References

  1. ↑ "Inácio testa Ayew ao lado de Acosta" [Inácio tests Ayew next to Acosta] (in Portuguese). Record. 14 October 1999. Retrieved 2 June 2015.
  2. ↑ "Ayew pode deixar Alvalade" [Ayew may leave Alvalade] (in Portuguese). Record. 2 June 2000. Retrieved 2 June 2015.
  3. ↑ Kwame Ayew – FIFA competition record
  4. ↑ "Le clan Ayew, une dynastie de footballeurs" [The Ayew clan, a footballing dynasty] (in French). Slate Afrique. 6 February 2012. Retrieved 2 June 2015.
  5. ↑ "Kwame Ayew". Footballdatabase. Retrieved 2 June 2015.
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