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,

Edmílson José Edmílson Gomes de Moraes (born 10 July 1976), known simply as Edmílson, 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 Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

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 Kupas� ...

: 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 Yimpaş 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