Christian Kwesi Annan (; born 3 May 1978) is a former

Ghanaian Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in Ghana–Ivory Coast border, the west, Burkina ...

-born

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played as a striker or

left winger A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. He is renowned in Hong Kong for his high pace and dribbling skill.

Club career

Eastern

Christian Annan arrived in Hong Kong to continue his

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

career in 2005. Unfortunately, he arrived at a time when most clubs in the First Division had already finished their foreign player signings, and so he joined

Eastern Eastern may refer to: Transportation *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai *Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991 *Eastern Air Li ...

, a

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

club instead. With 14 goals in 11 matches, including a

hat trick A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mecha ...

against

Tai Po Tai Po is an area in the New Territories of Hong Kong. It refers to the vicinity of the traditional market towns in the area presently known as Tai Po Old Market or Tai Po Kau Hui () (the original "Tai Po Market") on the north of Lam Tsue ...

, Annan successfully gained the attention of his then opponent. When Tai Po had successfully obtained their promotion status after the 2005–06 season, they signed Annan immediately.

Tai Po

Although he did not have the same impact in front of goal when compared to his time in the Second Division, Annan bagged 6 goals in 21 matches and became Tai Po's top scorer (along with defender

Joel Joel or Yoel is a name meaning "Yahweh Is God" and may refer to: * Joel (given name), origin of the name including a list of people with the first name. * Joel (surname), a surname * Joel (footballer, born 1904), Joel de Oliveira Monteiro, Brazili ...

), helping the team to successfully avoid relegation. His performances were also thrown into the limelight with his selection into the

Hong Kong League XI The Hong Kong League XI, also known as the Hong Kong XI or Hong Kong League Selection, is a football team which represents the Hong Kong First Division League in exhibition matches, mainly the Lunar New Year Cup. The team is selected from the ...

for the

Lunar New Year Cup 2007 The 2007 Lunar New Year Cup (formerly known as the Carlsberg Cup) was a football tournament held in Hong Kong on the first and fourth day of the Chinese New Year of the Pig (19 January and 22 January 2007). Participating teams * China Olympic T ...

. With only a brief appearance in the first match against

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

, Annan started the next match against Australia U-23, was fouled in the box, gaining a

penalty Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) * Penalty ...

for his team which ultimately tied the match (penalty scored by

Keith Gumbs Keith "Kayamba" Gumbs (born 11 September 1972 in St. Kitts, Saint Kitts and Nevis) is a retired St. Kitts and Nevis international football player. Playing career Gumbs began playing football while he was attending the Newtown Primary School ...

) in injury time. His contribution on Tai Po has been further rewarded: he was selected into the 2006–07 Squad of the Year in the

Hong Kong Footballer Awards The Hong Kong Top Footballers Awards (), established by the Hong Kong Football Association in 1978, recognizes the top performers for each season's Hong Kong Premier League. The prizes are decided according to the votes from mass media and the ge ...

. In season 2007–2008, Annan kept performing and being selected into the first squad of

for the Lunar New Year Cup 2008. He only dropped out of the final selection due to the overload of attacking players. He scored 7 goals in the season, being named the second top league scorer of the team along with striking partner Betine, behind Dega. In the 2011–12 season, on 18 September 2011, Annan appeared as a second-half substitute and scored twice against

Kitchee Kitchee Sports Club (; ; ) is a Hong Kong professional Association football, football club based in Kowloon. It was founded in 1931 and currently competes in the Hong Kong Premier League. The club has won championships in Hong Kong 11 times, in ...

, but Tai Po still lost the game, 4–2.

Kitchee

On 9 June 2013, Annan joined Kitchee on a free transfer along with his former Tai Po strike partner

Alex Alex is a given name. It can refer to a shortened version of Alexander, Alexandra, Alexis. People Multiple *Alex Brown (disambiguation), multiple people * Alex Gordon (disambiguation), multiple people *Alex Harris (disambiguation), multiple pe ...

. On 3 September 2013, Annan made his debut for Kitchee in a 6–2 victory against

Sun Hei Sun Hei Sports Club () is a Hong Kong football club which currently competes in the Hong Kong Third Division. The club has a long history in playing in the top flight, but decided to self-relegate in the 2013–14 season after declining to parti ...

. On 19 October 2013, Annan scored his first goal for Kitchee by netting the winner in a 1–0 victory against

Yokohama FC Hong Kong Metro Gallery Football Club () is a Hong Kong football club which currently competes in the Hong Kong First Division. History The team began as Fourway Athletics (), it joined Hong Kong First Division in 2008–09 season as a competition member ...

. On 12 July 2017, Annan was recalled from loan after he spent the 2016–17 season at

Pegasus Pegasus ( grc-gre, Πήγασος, Pḗgasos; la, Pegasus, Pegasos) is one of the best known creatures in Greek mythology. He is a winged divine stallion usually depicted as pure white in color. He was sired by Poseidon, in his role as hor ...

Hong Kong League XI

On 18 July 2010, Annan was selected into Hong Kong League Selection against

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...

in the

Hong Kong Stadium Hong Kong Stadium is the main sports venue of Hong Kong. Redeveloped from the old Government Stadium, it reopened as Hong Kong Stadium in March 1994. It has a maximum seating capacity of 40,000, including 18,260 at the main level, 3,173 at exec ...

. He scored a goal in the match and was the

MVP In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

of the match. After the match, it was rumoured that the manager of

Alex McLeish Alexander McLeish (born 21 January 1959) is a Scottish professional football manager and former player. He played as a defender for Aberdeen during their 1980s glory years, making nearly 500 League appearances for the club, and won 77 caps for ...

was interested in signing Annan.

Hoi King

On 20 August 2018, Annan was sent on loan to fellow HKPL side Hoi King.

Rangers

On 28 August 2019, Annan joined Rangers. He played 17 matches for Rangers during the 2019–20 season including league and cup games, before the HKPL was suspended from mid of March 2020 due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

Tai Po

In August 2021, Annan returned to

International career

On 12 February 2014, after residing in Hong Kong for more than 7 years, Annan was granted the HKSAR passport, making him eligible for the

Hong Kong national football team The Hong Kong national football team () represents Hong Kong in international association football, football and is controlled by the Hong Kong Football Association, the governing body for football in Hong Kong. Hong Kong was the first in Asia ...

. On 6 September 2014, Annan made his international debut for

in the 2015 AFC Asian Cup qualifiers against Vietnam. Annan scored his first international goal for

against

Bhutan Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountainous ...

on 11 June 2015 in a 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifier.

Honours

Club

;Tai Po *

Hong Kong Senior Shield The Hong Kong Senior Challenge Shield (), known commonly as the Senior Shield, is the football knockout inter-club competition held in Hong Kong and the fourth oldest football tournament in Asia. Traditionally, only the teams in the Hong Kong Pr ...

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

Hong Kong FA Cup Hong Kong FA Cup () is a knockout cup competition in Hong Kong football, run by and named after The Hong Kong Football Association. The first edition of the competition was held in 1975, before then the cup was known as the Golden Jubilee Cup. Th ...

: 2008–09 ;Kitchee *

Hong Kong Premier League The Hong Kong Premier League () is a Hong Kong professional football league organised by the Hong Kong Football Association. It is currently sponsored by BOC Life and officially known as BOC Life Hong Kong Premier League (). The inaugural seaso ...

: 2014–15, 2017–18 *

Hong Kong First Division The Hong Kong First Division League () is the second-highest division in the Hong Kong football league system. Established in 1908, it is the third oldest in Asia. The league was formerly the highest division in Hong Kong until the formation o ...

: 2013–14 *

: 2014–15, 2017–18 *

Hong Kong Sapling Cup Hong Kong Football Association Sapling Cup (), more commonly known as Sapling Cup (), is a Hong Kong domestic football competition contested by all the teams in the Hong Kong Premier League. The objective of the Cup is to provide more playing opp ...

: 2017–18 *

Hong Kong League Cup Hong Kong Football Association League Cup () is an annual football competition contested by clubs in the top-tier Hong Kong domestic football league (currently Hong Kong Premier League). The cup was relaunched for the 2014–15 season after being ...

: 2014–15, 2015–16

Individual

* Hong Kong Top Footballers: 2006–07

Career statistics

Club

:''As of 12 July 2017''

International

:''As of 5 March 2014''

International goals

:''Scores and results list Hong Kong's goal tally first.''

Personal life

Annan's wife, Irene, is a Hong Konger. The couple have a daughter named Precious�
African soccer players flee war and poverty in search of a better life in Hong Kong
��, ''South China Morning Post'', 8 October 2008

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Annan, Christian 1978 births Living people Ghanaian footballers Hong Kong footballers Hong Kong men's international footballers Ghanaian emigrants to Hong Kong Men's association football forwards Eastern Sports Club footballers Tai Po FC players Kitchee SC players Hong Kong Pegasus FC players Hoi King SA players Hong Kong Rangers FC players Yuen Long FC players Hong Kong First Division League players Hong Kong Premier League players Expatriate footballers in Hong Kong Footballers at the 2014 Asian Games Naturalised footballers of Hong Kong Asian Games competitors for Hong Kong Hong Kong League XI representative players