Kwame Ayew (born 28 December 1973) is a
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 ...
ian former 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 ...
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
Primeira Liga totals of 131 games and 51 goals over the course of six seasons.
Club career
Born in
Tamale
A tamale, in Spanish tamal, is a traditional Mesoamerican dish made of masa, a dough made from nixtamalized corn, which is steamed in a corn husk or banana leaf. The wrapping can either be discarded prior to eating or used as a plate. Tam ...
, Ayew started playing professionally in France at only 17, spending a couple of
Ligue 1 seasons with
FC Metz
Football Club de Metz, commonly referred to as FC Metz or simply Metz (), is a French association football club based in Metz, Lorraine. The club was formed in 1932 and plays in Ligue 2, the second division in the French football league sys ...
, then moved to Qatar with
Al Ahli SC and played in another country in the following two years,
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
, appearing and scoring sparingly for
U.S. Lecce
Unione Sportiva Lecce, commonly referred to as Lecce (), is an Italian football club based in Lecce, Apulia. The club play in Serie A in the 2022–23 season, the top level of the Italian football pyramid, having been promoted from Serie B. ...
(for instance, he netted four goals in
1993–94's
Serie A
The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Cop ...
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
União Desportiva de Leiria, commonly known as União de Leiria (), is a Portuguese football club based in Leiria, central Portugal. Founded on 6 June 1966, it currently plays in the Campeonato de Portugal, holding home matches at Estádio Dr. ...
and
Vitória de Setúbal
Vitoria or Vitória may refer to :
People
* Francisco de Vitoria (c. 1483–1546), a Spanish Renaissance theologian
* Alberto Vitoria (1956–2010), Spanish footballer
* Rui Vitória (born 1970), Portuguese retired footballer
* Steven Vitória ...
, then impressed at
Boavista F.C.
Boavista Futebol Clube, commonly known as Boavista (), is a Portuguese sports club from the city of Porto. Founded on 1 August 1903 by British entrepreneurs and Portuguese textile workers (thus the "FC" being appended – the British way as oppos ...
also in the
Primeira Liga, 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
FC Porto.
After nearly 50 official goals for Boavista, 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,
EdmÃlson
José EdmÃlson Gomes de Moraes (born 10 July 1976), known simply as EdmÃlson, is a Brazilian football executive and former professional footballer. He's currently a technical consultant for São Caetano.
Either a defensive midfielder or a ...
and
Mbo Mpenza
Mbo Jérôme Mpenza (born 4 December 1976) is a Belgian former professional football player and coach, who played as a striker. He was capped by Belgium at international level, scoring three goals in 56 appearances. His younger brother, Émil ...
), he netted seven goals in 13 starts as the ''Lions'' ended an 18-year drought and
conquered the national championship.
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 team that
won the bronze medal at the
1992 Summer Olympics
The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos OlÃmpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs OlÃmpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV OlimpÃada) and commonly known as ...
in
Barcelona
Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
, scoring six goals in as many games. In total, he won 25 senior
caps
Caps are flat headgear.
Caps or CAPS may also refer to:
Science and technology Computing
* CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters
* Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Ja ...
.
Education
Ayew attended
Ghana Senior High School in Tamale.
Personal life
Football ran 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
André — sometimes transliterated as Andre — is the French and Portuguese form of the name Andrew, and is now also used in the English-speaking world. It used in France, Quebec, Canada and other French-speaking countries. It is a variation ...
,
Jordan
Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...
and
Rahim
Rahim (''Raḥīm'' , also anglicized as Raheem) is one of the names of Allah in Islam, meaning "Merciful", from the root ''R-Ḥ-M''. It is also used as a personal male name, short for Abdu r-Raḥīm "Servant of the Merciful". Spellings include ...
, also played the sport professionally.
Career statistics
Honours
Player
Boavista
*
Supertaça de Portugal:
1997
File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...
Sporting
*
Primeira Liga:
1999–2000
Kocaelispor
*
Turkish Cup
The Turkish Cup ( Turkish: ''Türkiye Kupası'') is a football cup competition in Turkish football, run by the Turkish Football Federation since 1962. During a brief sponsorship period with Fortis, its sponsored name was ''Fortis Türkiye KupasÄ ...
:
2001–02
International
Ghana
*
Olympic Bronze Medal:
1992
References
External links
*
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ayew, Kwame
1973 births
Living people
Ghanaian footballers
Association football forwards
FC Metz players
Al Ahli SC (Doha) players
Serie A players
Serie B players
U.S. Lecce players
Primeira Liga players
U.D. Leiria players
Qatar Stars League players
Vitória F.C. players
Boavista F.C. players
Sporting CP footballers
Süper Lig players
YimpaÅŸ Yozgatspor footballers
Kocaelispor footballers
Chinese Super League players
Beijing Renhe F.C. players
Changsha Ginde players
Ghana international footballers
1994 African Cup of Nations players
1996 African Cup of Nations players
2000 African Cup of Nations players
Footballers at the 1992 Summer Olympics
Olympic footballers of Ghana
Olympic bronze medalists for Ghana
Olympic medalists in football
Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics
Ghanaian expatriate footballers
Expatriate footballers in France
Expatriate footballers in Qatar
Expatriate footballers in Italy
Expatriate footballers in Portugal
Expatriate footballers in Turkey
Expatriate footballers in China
Ghanaian expatriate sportspeople in France
Ghanaian expatriate sportspeople in Italy
Ghanaian expatriate sportspeople in Portugal
Ghanaian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey
Ghanaian expatriate sportspeople in China
People from Tamale, Ghana
Ghana Senior High School (Tamale) alumni
Ayew family