Peter Ofori-Quaye (born 21 March 1980) is a Ghanaian former

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. Ofori-Quaye spent most of his career in the Greek division and amassed 33 goals in his 10 seasons in the league. During a 1997–98 UEFA Champions League group stage match on 1 October 1997, he scored for

Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós ( el, Ολυμπιακός Σύνδεσμος Φιλάθλων Πειραιώς, Olympic Club of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number ...

against Rosenborg when he was 17 years and 195 days old, becoming the youngest player to score in the competition's history. The record stood for twenty-two years until 10 December 2019 when it was broken by

Ansu Fati Anssumane "Ansu" Fati Vieira (born 31 October 2002) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a forward for La Liga club Barcelona and the Spain national team. Fati was born in Guinea-Bissau but chose to represent the Spain national ...

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football. Found ...

at the age of 17 years and 40 days. At the international level, he played 18 matches for the Ghana national football team and scored 2 goals. He featured for national team at the

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

and

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

African Cup of Nations tournaments.

Early life

Ofori-Quaye is a native of Mamprobi, a suburb of Accra known for producing very talented and intelligent sportspeople including former Ghanaian captain Stephen Appiah, the Sabah brothers ( Christian Saba and Robert Saba), Ali Jarra, and former world boxing champion

Azumah Nelson Azumah Nelson (born 19 July 1958) is a Ghanaian former professional boxer who competed from 1979 to 2008. He was a two-weight world champion, having held the WBC featherweight title from 1984 to 1987 and the WBC super-featherweight title twice ...

Club career

Kalamata

Born in Accra, Ofori-Quaye came to

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

at the age of 15, signing for

Kalamata FC Kalamata Football Club ( el, Π.Σ. "Η Καλαμάτα") is a Greek professional football club based in Messenia, Kalamata. They compete in the Super League Greece 2, the second tier of the Greek football league system. The club's home ground is ...

during the Stavros Papadopoulos era of the club. The Papadopoulos era was noted for bringing in talented players from the nation of Ghana with Ofori-Quaye proving to be the most promising player ahead of teammates Samuel Johnson and

Derek Boateng Derek Owusu Boateng ( ; born 2 May 1983) is a Ghanaian former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder. Born in Ghana, Boateng went on to play professional football in Greece, Sweden, Israel, Germany, Spain, Ukraine, England, ...

Olympiacos

At the age of 17, Ofori-Quaye signed for Greek champions

for a Kalamata FC club record of US$3.5 million. Ofori-Quaye attracted much attention from other clubs, scoring key goals including those in the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...

against the likes of Rosenborg BK, Olympique Lyonnais, and

Deportivo La Coruna ''Deportivo'' (Spanish, 'sporting') may refer to: * Deportivo de La Coruña, commonly known as simply Deportivo, a Spanish football club * Déportivo, a French rock band * Deportivo (Mexicable), an aerial lift station in Ecatepec, Mexico * Deport ...

. In the middle of Olympiacos' coach changing crisis, Ofori-Quaye was released by the club in 2003. He won 6 Greek Championships with the

Piraeus Piraeus ( ; el, Πειραιάς ; grc, Πειραιεύς ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the Attica region of Greece. It is located southwest of Athens' city centre, along the east coast of the Saron ...

based club, a

Hellenic Cup The Hellenic Cup ( el, Ελληνικό Κύπελλο, translit=Ellinikό Kypello) is an Australian football (soccer) tournament contested by Greek Australian clubs, mostly from Melbourne, Victoria . Starting in 1983, it was an attempt to formal ...

, and helped them reach the quarter finals of the 1998–99 UEFA Champions League.

Liberty Professionals

After a year away from football, he signed for Ghanaian club

Liberty Professionals FC Liberty Professionals Football Club is a Ghanaian professional football club based in Dansoman, Accra. History Liberty Professionals, was founded in 1996 by Accra-based businessmen Felix Ansong and Alhaji Sly Tetteh. The club was one of the e ...

in 2004. In 2005, he returned to Greece signing for

OFI Crete OFI may refer to: * Overseas Filipino Investors, Filipino expatriates who contribute to the economy of the Philippines through remittances, buying property, and creating businesses * OFI Crete, a Greek association football club based on the islan ...

where he began to hit good form and was recalled back to his national team.

Kiryat Shmona

In July 2007 newly promoted

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

i club Kiryat Shmona tried to sign him, but his contract was not approved in the first place with OFI reported him missing for the past three months. He went on an played 26 matches and scored 4 goals during his only season with the club.

AEL Limassol

Ofori-Quaye moved to Cyprus where joined Limassol club

AEL Limassol Athlitiki Enosi Lemesou ( el, Αθλητική Ένωση Λεμεσού, translation=Athletic Union of Limassol) commonly known as AEL, is a Cypriot sports club based in the city of Limassol, most famous for its football team. AEL also maintai ...

in the summer of 2008. On 30 August 2008, He made his debut appearance as he was named on the starting 11 for the first match of the season against Apollon Smyrnis. He ended up scoring his first goal in the 3rd minute of the match which ended in a 3–1 win. Due to injuries, he ended his season with 11 league matches and scored 3 goals. During his time with the club they progressed to the final of the

2008–09 Cypriot Cup The 2008–09 Cypriot Cup was the 67th edition of the Cypriot Cup. A total of 28 clubs entered the competition. It began on 23 September 2008 with the first round and concluded on 16 May 2009 with the final which was held at GSP Stadium. APOP Kin ...

which they lost by 2–0 to APOP Kinyras. In 2010, Ofori-Quaye was on the verge of moving to Ghana and signing for

Accra Hearts of Oak Accra Hearts of Oak Sporting Club, commonly referred to as Hearts of Oak or just Hearts, is a professional sports club based in Accra ( Greater Accra), Ghana. Founded in 1911, the club is the oldest surviving football club in Ghana and its tr ...

but the deal fell through.

Bechem United and retirement

After being out for a while due to injuries and almost signing for Accra Hearts of Oak in 2010, Ofori-Quaye returned to Ghana and joined newly promoted

Ahafo Ahafo are Akan people who live in 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 t ...

based

club Club may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Club'' (magazine) * Club, a '' Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character * Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards * Club music * "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea'' Brands and enterprises ...

Bechem United in 2011 on a one-year deal. This made him one of the few Ghanaian foreign based players to return and play in the local league. He spoke against suggestions from the public that he was coming to the end of his career and stated in interviews that he had rather joined the club to restart his career. On 23 October 2011, he scored his only league in a match 3–2 loss to Kumasi Asante Kotoko, after scoring the equalizer in the 44th minute of the match after Nathaniel Asamoah scored for Kotoko. On 6 November 2011, in a match against Aduana Stars, he missed a penalty after he had been fouled in the 35th minute, failing to double their early lead through Richard Addai. The match ended in a 1–1 draw after Godfred Saka converted a penalty on the stroke on half time. He went on and played several matches in the

Ghana Premier League The is the top professional association football division of the football league system in Ghana. Officially formed in 1956 to replace a previous league incarnation, the Gold Coast Club Competition (which began in 1933 and ended in 1953–54), t ...

until his contract ended in 2012.

International career

Youth

Ofori-Quaye was a member of the Ghana national under-20 football team in the late 1990s. He featured for team during the

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 ...

and

1999 FIFA World Youth Championship The 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship took place in Nigeria between 3 and 24 April 1999. This was the 12th edition of the tournament. Qualification The following 24 teams qualified for the 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship. :1.Teams that ...

. He played a key role in both tournaments, scoring 2 goals in the former and helping Ghana place 4th after losing to

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern ...

during the third place play-off. During the 1999 edition, he scored 4 goals, ending the tournament as the joint second top goal scorer even though the team could not go pass the quarter final stage as they were eliminated by

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

after a penalty shoot-out.

Senior

After his impressive form in Ghana U-20 team and in his first season with Olympiacos, he was called up to the senior team, the Black Stars. He made his debut on 19 January 1998 in a friendly match against

Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...

. He was named in the 22-man squad for the 1998 African Cup of Nations, where he played two matches with Ghana in the group stages. On 28 February 1999, he scored his debut goal in the 2000 AFCON qualifiers against Eritrea which ended in a 5–0 victory. He also made the squad for the 2000 African Cup of Nations. He played 2 matches as Ghana were eliminated in the quarter finals by

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

. In October 2006, after being out of the national team for three years, he received a call up for Ghana's International friendly match against Australia on 14 November in London. He played started the match, played 75 minutes before being substituted for

Asamoah Gyan Asamoah Gyan ( ; born 22 November 1985) is a Ghanaian professional footballer who last played as a striker for Legon Cities FC and is the former captain of the Ghanaian national team. Gyan began his career in 2003 with Ghanaian Premier Leag ...

, who came on and created the goal for Junior Agogo to score his first international goal in order for Ghana to draw 1–1.

Career statistics

International

: Source: ''Score and Result lists Ghana's goals first''

Honours

Club

Olympiacos * Super League Greece: 1997–98, 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2000–01, 2001–02, 2002–03 *

Greek Cup The Greek Football Cup ( el, Κύπελλο Ελλάδος Ποδοσφαίρου), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Kypello Elladas is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation. The Greek Cup is the second most ...

: 1998–99 AEL Limassol *

Cypriot Cup The Cypriot Cup () is the main cup competition in Cypriot football, run by the Cyprus Football Association (CFA). It began in 1934, the same season with the Cypriot Championship. It is the second most important competition for Cypriot club team ...

runner up: 2008–09

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ofori-Quaye, Peter 1980 births Living people Olympiacos F.C. players OFI Crete F.C. players Kalamata F.C. players Super League Greece players Ghanaian footballers Ghanaian expatriate footballers Ghana international footballers Ghana under-20 international footballers Footballers from Accra Cypriot First Division players Israeli Premier League players Hapoel Ironi Kiryat Shmona F.C. players Expatriate footballers in Greece Expatriate footballers in Israel Liberty Professionals F.C. players 1998 African Cup of Nations players Ghanaian expatriate sportspeople in Israel 2000 African Cup of Nations players Accra Hearts of Oak S.C. players Bechem United FC players Association football forwards Ghana Premier League players Ga-Adangbe people