Frank Opoku Acheampong (born 16 October 1993) is a Ghanaian professional footballer who plays as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

for Chinese Super League club Shenzhen and the

Ghana national team The Ghana national football team represents Ghana in men's international football, doing it since 1957. The team consists of twenty players including the technical team. The team is nicknamed the Black Stars after the Black Star of Africa in ...

Youth career

He started his career with Ghanaian side King Faisal Babes, under the direction of Romain Krider, his first coach. He was invited for trials by Sheikh Mansour, who owns the English side

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

, to his base in Abu Dhabi, to be observed by Al-Jazeera, the other club he owns. He also has a child name

James Halto James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguat ...

In 2010, he was on trial for Croatian club NK Osijek but he couldn't obtain a work permit.

Club career

Buriram United

In February 2011, he joined Thai League T1 side

Buriram United Buriram United Football Club ( th, สโมสรฟุตบอลบุรีรัมย์ ยูไนเต็ด) is a professional football club based in Buriram, Thailand. The club has played at the top level of Thai football for the ...

. After his impressive performance in Thai League T1, Acheampong was invited for a trial with Scottish club

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

in December 2012. In January 2013 Acheampong moved to Belgian club R.S.C. Anderlecht on a loan spell until the end of the 2012–2013 season.

R.S.C. Anderlecht

On 16 April 2013, Acheampong signed for the Belgian champions R.S.C. Anderlecht for a fee of €1 million. On 28 July, Acheampong made his first appearance for Anderlecht against

KSC Lokeren Koninklijke Sporting Club Lokeren Oost-Vlaanderen (; often simply called Sporting Lokeren or Lokeren) was a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Lokeren, in the province of East Flanders. The club was founded in 1923 but cea ...

; he came on in the 70th minute in a 2–3 loss. In the 4–1 win over KAA Gent, he came on in the 69th minute and scored his first goal in Belgium. On 17 September Acheampong made his first UEFA Champions League appearance against Benfica; he came on as a substitute in the 46th minute; it ended as a victory for Benfica.

Tianjin Teda

On 13 July 2017, Anderlecht announced that Acheampong had joined Chinese Super League side Tianjin TEDA on a six-month loan deal. He made his debut on 22 July 2017. He scored four goals in 12 appearances in the 2017 season which secured Tianjin Teda's stay in the top flight for the next season. On 8 November 2017, Tianjin Teda exercised the option to permanently sign Acheampong.

Shenzhen FC

On 12 April 2021, Shenzhen FC announced that Acheampong had joined Shenzhen FC.

International career

In August 2012, Acheampong was called up to

for the international friendly match against China PR in Xi'an. He made his debut in the starting lineup while Ghana drew 1–1 with China on 15 August. On 23 September 2012, he was made the captain of the Ghana U-20's. In a match against Morocco U-20 in

2013 African Youth Championship qualification The 2013 African U-20 Championship qualification phase consisted of three rounds of two-legged matches. Some countries had a bye to the First Round. The winners of the Second Round matches qualifies for the finals. Preliminary round The first leg ...

, he scored twice as the Ghana U-20's won the match 4–1. On 10 September 2013, Acheampong scored his first international goal for Ghana against

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

in a friendly match.

Career statistics

Club statistics

International goals

(Ghana score listed first, score column indicates score after each Acheampong goal)

Honours

;Buriram PEA * Thai Premier League:

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

* Thai FA Cup:

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

* Thai League Cup:

;RSC Anderlecht * Belgian Pro League: 2013–14, 2016–17 * Belgian Super Cup:

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

Ghana U-20 * FIFA U-20 World Cup third Place:

Ghana *

Africa Cup of Nations The Africa Cup of Nations referred to as AFCON (french: Coupe d'Afrique des Nations, sometimes referred to as CAN, or TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons), and sometimes as African Cup of Nations, is the main internati ...

runner-up:

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

References

External links

Frank Acheampong profile
at R.S.C. Anderlecht website
Best Football Cleats
at imscouting.com * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Acheampong, Frank 1993 births Living people Ghanaian footballers Association football wingers

Frank Acheampong Frank Opoku Acheampong (born 16 October 1993) is a Ghanaian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Chinese Super League club Shenzhen and the Ghana national team. Youth career He started his career with Ghanaian side King Faisal Bab ...

R.S.C. Anderlecht players Tianjin Jinmen Tiger F.C. players

Belgian First Division A players Chinese Super League players Ghanaian expatriate footballers Ghanaian expatriate sportspeople in Thailand Ghanaian expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Ghanaian expatriate sportspeople in China Expatriate footballers in Thailand Expatriate footballers in Belgium Expatriate footballers in China Ghana under-20 international footballers Ghana international footballers 2015 Africa Cup of Nations players 2017 Africa Cup of Nations players 20th-century Ghanaian people 21st-century Ghanaian people