Kwame Ayew

Kwame Ayew
Personal information
Date of birth	28 December 1973 (age 50)
Place of birth	Tamale, Ghana
Height	1.79 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s)	Striker
Youth career
1990	Africa Sports
Senior career*
Years	Team
1990–1992	Metz
1992–1993	Al Ahli
1993–1995	Lecce
1995–1996	União Leiria
1996–1997	Vitória Setúbal
1997–1999	Boavista
1999–2000	Sporting CP
2000–2001	Yozgatspor
2001–2002	Kocaelispor
2002–2003	Shenyang Ginde
2004–2006	Inter Shanghai
2007	Vitória Setúbal
Total
International career
1992–2001	Ghana
Medal record
Men's association football
Representing Ghana
Olympic Games
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Kwame Ayew^{[needs Akan IPA]} (born 28 December 1973) is a Ghanaian former professional footballer 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, Ayew started playing professionally in France at only 17, spending a couple of Ligue 1 seasons with FC Metz, then moved to Qatar with Al Ahli SC and played in another country in the following two years, Italy, appearing and scoring sparingly for U.S. Lecce (for instance, he netted four goals in 1993–94's Serie A 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 and Vitória de Setúbal, then impressed at Boavista F.C. 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 and Mbo Mpenza^[1]), he netted seven goals in 13 starts as the Lions ended an 18-year drought and conquered the national championship.^[2]

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 in Barcelona, scoring six goals in as many games.^[3] In total, he won 25 senior caps.

Education

Ayew attended Ghana Senior High School in Tamale.^[4]

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, Jordan and Rahim, also played the sport professionally.^[5]

Career statistics

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club	Season	League
Club	Season	Division	Apps	Goals
Metz B	1990–91
	1991–92
	Total
Al Ahli	1992–93^[6]	Qatar Stars League	22	14
Lecce	1993–94^[7]	Serie A	18	3
	1994–95^[6]	Serie B	16	4
	Total		34	7
União Leiria	1995–96^[8]	Primeira Liga	13	1
Vitória Setúbal	1996–97^[8]	Primeira Liga	23	8
Boavista	1997–98^[8]	Primeira Liga	29	16
	1998–99^[8]	Primeira Liga	27	15
	Total		56	31
Sporting	1999–2000^[7]^[6]	Primeira Liga	26	7
Yozgatspor	2000–01^[7]	Süper Lig	19	11
Kocaelispor	2001–02^[7]	Süper Lig	28	10
Shenyang Ginde	2003^[6]	Chinese Jia-A League	28	14
Inter Shanghai, Inter Xian^[a]	2004^[6]	Chinese Super League	20	17
	2005^[6]	Chinese Super League	23	8
	2006^[6]	Chinese Super League	13	1
	Total		56	26
Vitória Setúbal	2006–07^[8]	Primeira Liga	12	3
Career total			317	132

^ Renaming in 2006

Honours

Player

Boavista

Supertaça de Portugal: 1997

Sporting

Primeira Liga: 1999–2000

Kocaelispor

Turkish Cup: 2001–02

International

Ghana

Olympic Bronze Medal: 1992

References

^ "Inácio testa Ayew ao lado de Acosta" [Inácio tests Ayew next to Acosta]. Record (in Portuguese). 14 October 1999. Retrieved 2 June 2015.
^ "Ayew pode deixar Alvalade" [Ayew may leave Alvalade]. Record (in Portuguese). 2 June 2000. Retrieved 2 June 2015.
^ Kwame Ayew – FIFA competition record (archived)
^ Ibrahimah, Seidu (13 March 2015). "Ghanasco, Tamale, Sends Out Distress Call To Her Sons And Daughters". Modern Ghana. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
^ "Le clan Ayew, une dynastie de footballeurs" [The Ayew clan, a footballing dynasty] (in French). Slate Afrique. 6 February 2012. Retrieved 2 June 2015.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Kwame Ayew at National-Football-Teams.com
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Kwame Ayew » Club matches". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 29 April 2020.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Kwame Ayew at ForaDeJogo (archived)

External links

Kwame Ayew at ForaDeJogo (archived)
Kwame Ayew at National-Football-Teams.com
Kwame Ayew at Soccerway
Kwame Ayew at Olympics.com
Kwame Ayew at Olympedia (archive)

[9] Renaming in 2006

[1] "Inácio testa Ayew ao lado de Acosta" [Inácio tests Ayew next to Acosta]. Record (in Portuguese). 14 October 1999. Retrieved 2 June 2015.

[2] "Ayew pode deixar Alvalade" [Ayew may leave Alvalade]. Record (in Portuguese). 2 June 2000. Retrieved 2 June 2015.

[3] Kwame Ayew – FIFA competition record (archived)

[4] Ibrahimah, Seidu (13 March 2015). "Ghanasco, Tamale, Sends Out Distress Call To Her Sons And Daughters". Modern Ghana. Retrieved 28 June 2020.

[5] "Le clan Ayew, une dynastie de footballeurs" [The Ayew clan, a footballing dynasty] (in French). Slate Afrique. 6 February 2012. Retrieved 2 June 2015.

[nft-6] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Kwame Ayew at National-Football-Teams.com

[wf-7] "Kwame Ayew » Club matches". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 29 April 2020.

[fdj-8] Kwame Ayew at ForaDeJogo (archived)

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