Emmanuel Kwame "Ymma" Agyeman Boakye (born 25 March 1985 in

Ejura Ejura is a town and the capital of Ejura/Sekyedumase, a district in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. Ejura has settlement population of 70,807 people. Ejura is the largest maize producing district in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. It is in the far nor ...

Ghana 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 the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

) is a

ian-

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

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 is currently a free agent. Boakye played for Dutch clubs

Sparta Rotterdam Sparta Rotterdam () is a Dutch professional football club based in Rotterdam. Established on 1 April 1888, Sparta Rotterdam is the oldest professional football team in the Netherlands. Sparta currently compete in the Eredivisie, the top flight ...

Heracles Almelo Heracles Almelo is a Dutch professional football club based in Almelo, founded in 1903. The club has won the Dutch national title twice, in 1927 and 1941. Heracles won the Eerste Divisie title during the 2004–05 season, gaining promotion to th ...

and

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * ''Ajax'' (play), by the ancient Greek ...

, Slovenian side

ND Mura 05 Nogometno društvo Mura 05, commonly referred to as ND Mura 05 or simply Mura 05, was a Slovenian football club from the town of Murska Sobota. The club was established on 16 June 2005. The club's home ground was Fazanerija City Stadium. During ...

Åtvidabergs FF Åtvidabergs Fotbollförening, also known simply as Åtvidabergs FF, Åtvidaberg, Åtvid or (especially locally) ÅFF, is a Swedish professional football club based in Åtvidaberg. The club is affiliated with Östergötlands Fotbollförbund and p ...

in Sweden and most recently the Ghanaian team Asante Kotoko.

Club career

A strong, confident and aggressive attacking right wingback, with much speed and skill, Boakye moved to the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

in 1993, and played for amateur side Zuidvogels (from the town of

Huizen Huizen () is a municipality and a village in the province of North Holland, the Netherlands. The name "Huizen" is Dutch for "houses" and this usage has been linked to the belief that the first stone houses, instead of the more common sod houses a ...

) as a child and moved to

FC Utrecht Football Club Utrecht () is a Dutch professional football club based in Utrecht. The club competes in the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch football, and plays its home matches at the Stadion Galgenwaard. The club was formed in 1970 as a merge ...

youth as a teenager.

scouts discovered him in 2000. The defender, who can play as a right fullback but also in the center of defense, joined the Ajax B1 youth team in 2000.

Ajax

Boakye was first added to the Ajax-1 squad in the fall of 2005 by head-coach

Danny Blind Dirk Franciscus "Danny" Blind (; born 1 August 1961) is a Dutch former football player and coach. He played as a defender for Sparta Rotterdam, Ajax and the Netherlands national team. As coach he has managed Ajax and the Netherlands national te ...

, as many Ajax defenders were injured or suspended at the time. The youngster made his first team début on 24 September 2005 in the Eredivisie home game against

Roda JC Sportvereniging Roda Juliana Combinatie Kerkrade (; Ripuarian: ), also known as Roda JC Kerkrade () or commonly Roda JC or Roda, is a Dutch professional football club based in Kerkrade, Netherlands. Roda JC Kerkrade plays in the Eerste Divisie. ...

. In total, Emmanuel Boakye had six appearances for Ajax in the

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; ''"Honour Division"'' or ''"Premier Division"'') is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is c ...

, plus another four in the post-season

play-offs and one in the

Dutch Cup The KNVB Beker (; en, KNVB Cup), branded as the TOTO KNVB Beker for sponsorship reasons, is a competition in the Netherlands organized by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) since 1898. It was based on the format of the English FA Cup. Ou ...

competition. Ajax offered the player a contract renewal in April 2006, and the

ian started the new season with the first squad, but at the end of the pre-season campaign Ajax and the player agreed that a transfer on loan would be best for his development. Boakye was soon linked with two

outfits. When

lost interest the choice for

was easily made.

Heracles

On 10 August 2006, Ajax defender Boakye was loaned out to

side

for the remainder of the 2006–2007 season, officially until 30 June 2007. Ajax and Heracles agreed a one-year loan deal, effective immediately. The Ghanaian defender extended his Ajax contract until 2008 in April 2006, but would not have seen much action in Amsterdam this season, with defenders such as

Jaap Stam Jakob Stam (; born 17 July 1972) is a Dutch professional football coach and former player. As a player, he played as a centre-back and is regarded as one of the best defenders of his generation. Stam played for several European clubs including P ...

Thomas Vermaelen Thomas Vermaelen (born 14 November 1985) is a retired Belgian professional footballer who is currently an assistant coach for the Belgium national team. Being left-footed, he usually played as a left-sided centre-back and could play at left-bac ...

Johnny Heitinga John Gijsbert Alan "Johnny" Heitinga (born 15 November 1983) is a Dutch football coach and a former player who played as a centre back. He manages Jong Ajax, the reserves team of AFC Ajax. A product of the Ajax Youth Academy, he played for their ...

and

George Ogăraru George Ogăraru (born 3 February 1980 in Bucharest) is a retired Romanian footballer and current manager who holds a UEFA Pro Licence. His position on the pitch was right defender. Club career Ogăraru is one of the players that were promoted ...

above him in

Henk ten Cate Hendrik Willem ten Cate (born 9 December 1954) is a Dutch football manager and former professional player. In the 2005–06 season, he was assistant to Frank Rijkaard at Barcelona when the team won the UEFA Champions League and La Liga titles. ...

's pecking order. On 18 June 2007, Boakye made his loan move permanent, sealing a three-year deal with

from rivals

Ajax Amsterdam Amsterdamsche Football Club Ajax (), also known as AFC Ajax, Ajax Amsterdam, or simply Ajax, is a Dutch professional football club based in Amsterdam, that plays in the , the top tier in Dutch football. Historically, Ajax (named after the l ...

. He made 61 appearances whilst on loan at Heracles. "We are extremely happy that we could sign such a young and good defender for three years," Heracles Almelo director Nico Jan Hoogma said. "The competition for him was fierce but we nevertheless managed to do it." Boakye opted for Almelo despite offers from

Feyenoord Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Dutch professional football club in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the club changed to various names before settling on being called after its ...

AZ Alkmaar Alkmaar Zaanstreek (), better known as AZ Alkmaar or simply AZ (), is a Dutch professional football club from Alkmaar and the Zaan district. The club plays in the Eredivisie, the highest professional football league in the Netherlands, and ho ...

and

SC Heerenveen Sportclub Heerenveen (; West Frisian: Sportklub It Hearrenfean) is a Dutch football club from Heerenveen. They currently play in the Eredivisie, the top level of football in the Netherlands. History Sportclub Heerenveen was founded on 20 July ...

. In June 2009, Boakye signed for Sparta Rotterdam and played there until 2011 when he was released by the club because he did not follow the clubs rules. In summer 2014, Boakye joined Swedish side Åtvidabergs from Slovenian club

Mura 05 Nogometno društvo Mura 05, commonly referred to as ND Mura 05 or simply Mura 05, was a Slovenian football club from the town of Murska Sobota. The club was established on 16 June 2005. The club's home ground was Fazanerija City Stadium. During ...

International career

Boakye holds both Ghanaian and Dutch citizenship. He has opted to represent the national team of Ghana. On 19 January 2007, Boakye was called up by Ghana Olympic coach Jones Attuquayefio into the Ghana Olympic squad for a qualifying match against Burkina Faso's Olympic team in the qualification for the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

. He's a potential player for Ghana Black stars.

Major honors

KNVB Cup The KNVB Beker (; en, KNVB Cup), branded as the TOTO KNVB Beker for sponsorship reasons, is a competition in the Netherlands organized by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) since 1898. It was based on the format of the English FA Cup. Ou ...

, , 1x , , 2005/06 *

Johan Cruijff Schaal The Johan Cruyff Shield (, ) is a football trophy in the Netherlands named after Dutch footballer Johan Cruyff, also often referred to as the Dutch Super Cup. The winner is decided in one match only, played by the winner of the national football ...

, , 1x , , 2006

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boakye, Emmanuel 1985 births Living people People from Ashanti Region Ghanaian emigrants to the Netherlands Association football defenders Dutch footballers Ghanaian footballers AFC Ajax players Heracles Almelo players Sparta Rotterdam players ND Mura 05 players Åtvidabergs FF players Asante Kotoko S.C. players Eredivisie players Eerste Divisie players Slovenian PrvaLiga players Allsvenskan players Dutch expatriate footballers Ghanaian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Slovenia Expatriate footballers in Sweden Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Slovenia Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Sweden