Owusu Afriyie Martin (born 1 September 1980) is a Ghanaian 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 le ...

. Nicknamed Arriki, he played as a

midfielder 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 ...

in Ghana, Spain, Portugal, Austria, and England.

Career

Born in

Accra Accra (; tw, Nkran; dag, Ankara; gaa, Ga or ''Gaga'') is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , ...

, Afriyie began his career with Real Sportive, before earning a move to Spanish side

Badajoz Badajoz (; formerly written ''Badajos'' in English) is the capital of the Province of Badajoz in the autonomous community of Extremadura, Spain. It is situated close to the Portuguese border, on the left bank of the river Guadiana. The population ...

after just a season. His performances ensured a move to bigger club

Málaga Málaga (, ) is a municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 578,460 in 2020, it is the second-most populous city in Andalusia after Seville and the sixth most pop ...

, where he spent a season on loan at Portuguese club Chaves. In 2001 Arriky returned to Ghana to spend two seasons with

Hearts of Oak Hearts most commonly refers to: * Hearts (card game), a trick-taking game * Hearts (suit), one of the standard four suits of cards * Heart, an organ Hearts may also refer to: Music * The Hearts, an American girl group closely related to the Jay ...

, before spending a further two seasons in Austria with Feldkirchen. Short spells in Spain with Linares and

Melilla Melilla ( , ; ; rif, Mřič ; ar, مليلية ) is an autonomous city of Spain located in north Africa. It lies on the eastern side of the Cape Three Forks, bordering Morocco and facing the Mediterranean Sea. It has an area of . It was par ...

, and in England with

Enfield Town Enfield is a large town in north London, England, north of Charing Cross. It had a population of 156,858 in 2018. It includes the areas of Botany Bay, Brimsdown, Bulls Cross, Bullsmoor, Bush Hill Park, Clay Hill, Crews Hill, Enfield Highway ...

, preceded a final return to Hearts of Oak, where he finished his career in 2007.

References

External links

FIFAGhanaWeb.com
1980 births Living people Ghanaian men's footballers Ghana men's under-20 international footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Expatriate men's footballers in Austria Ghanaian expatriate men's footballers CD Badajoz players Málaga CF players CD Linares players UD Melilla footballers G.D. Chaves players Accra Hearts of Oak S.C. players Enfield Town F.C. players Ghanaian expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Ghanaian expatriate sportspeople in Austria Real Sportive players Ghanaian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Alumni of the Accra Academy Men's association football midfielders Segunda División players Segunda División B players {{Ghana-footy-midfielder-stub