Tony Yeboah

Ghanaian footballer

Anthony Yeboah (born 6 June 1966) is a Ghanaian former professional footballer who played as a striker. Considered one of the best Ghanaian players of all time. He was a striker gifted with speed, power and a good eye for goal. Yeboah was an all-action centre-forward, with the physicality to ruffle defenders at will and the technique to score wonder goals almost every other week. At 5ft 11ins tall, Yeboah had everything a top striker required - pace, power, tenacity and clinical finishing.

Tony Yeboah
Personal information
Full name Anthony Yeboah[1]
Date of birth (1966-06-06) 6 June 1966 (age 58)[1]
Place of birth Kumasi, Ghana
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s) Striker
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1981–1983 Asante Kotoko 50 (30)
1983–1985 Cornerstones Kumasi 65 (68)
1986–1987 Okwawu United 35 (35)
1988–1990 1. FC Saarbrücken 65 (26)
1990–1995 Eintracht Frankfurt 123 (68)
1995–1997 Leeds United 47 (24)
1997–2001 Hamburger SV 100 (28)
2001–2002 Al-Ittihad 22 (5)
Total 507 (284)
National team
1985–1997 Ghana 59 (29)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Club career

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In adult football, he made his debut in 1982 with performances for "Asante Kotoko", after which he played in his homeland for the "Cornerstones" and "Okwavu United" clubs, becoming the two-time top scorer of the Ghana championship with the last club.

In 1988, Tony went to Germany, where he signed a contract with Saarbrücken, which played in the Second Bundesliga, where he spent the next two seasons.

With his game for Saarbruecken, he attracted the attention of representatives of the coaching staff of the Eintracht club from the First Bundesliga, which he joined in the summer of 1990. He played the next five seasons of his playing career for the Frankfurt club. Most of his time with Eintracht (Frankfurt am Main), he was the main player in the attacking link of the team and one of the main scorers of the team, averaging 0.55 goals per game in the championship, as well as becoming the best two years in a row scorer of the Bundesliga.

During 1995-1997, he defended the colors of the English club "Leeds United" and in 1996 was named the best player of the club.

In the summer of 1997, Yeboah returned to Germany and signed a contract with Hamburg , where he spent the next four years of his playing career. While playing for Hamburg, he also mostly appeared on the field as part of the main team, but he no longer showed his former performance.

He finished his professional playing career in the club "Al-Ittihad" (Doha), for which team he played during 2001-2002 and helped his club win the Qatar championship and the Cup of the Emir of Qatar that season.


International career

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He was a member of Ghana's national team for over ten years, and represented his country at three Africa Cup of Nations during the 1990s. Yeboah scored 29 goals in 59 appearances for Ghana, the fourth highest goalscoring total in the nation's history behind Asamoah Gyan, Edward Acquah and Kwasi Owusu.[2][3]

Post-playing career

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On 3 November 2008, he was appointed as the new chairman of the newly promoted Ghana Premier League club Berekum Chelsea.[4]

Personal life

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Yeboah along with his cousin former Mainz player Michael Osei runs an international sports agency called Anthony Yeboah Sportpromotion and owns a chain of hotels in Ghana (Accra, Kumasi) called Yegoala.[5][6] He is married and has two children.[7]

His nephew, Kelvin Yeboah, is also a professional footballer.[8]


Career statistics

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Appearances and goals by club, season and competition[9][10][11]
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Continental Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
1. FC Saarbrücken 1988–89 2. Bundesliga 28 9 2 0 2[a] 2 32 11
1989–90 37 17 1 2 2[a] 1 40 20
Total 65 26 3 2 0 0 0 0 4 3 72 31
Eintracht Frankfurt 1990–91 Bundesliga 26 8 6 2 1 1 33 11
1991–92 34 15 1 0 3 2 38 17
1992–93 27 20 6 5 4 5 37 30
1993–94 22 18 2 1 3 1 27 20
1994–95 14 7 2 1 5 3 21 11
Total 123 68 17 9 0 0 16 12 0 0 156 89
Leeds United 1994–95 Premier League 18 12 2 1 0 0 20 13
1995–96 22 12 6 1 7 3 4 3 39 19
1996–97 7 0 0 0 0 0 7 0
Total 47 24 8 2 7 3 4 3 0 0 66 32
Hamburger SV 1997–98 Bundesliga 23 3 0 0 0 0 23 3
1998–99 34 14 3 2 37 16
1999–2000 24 9 1 0 6 3 31 12
2000–01 14 2 1 0 1 0 9 2 25 4
2001–02 5 0 0 0 5 0
Total 100 28 5 2 1 0 15 5 0 0 121 35
Career total 335 146 33 15 8 3 35 20 4 3 415 187

International goals

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African Cup of Nations only.

Scores and results list Ghana's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Yeboah goal.
List of international goals scored by Tony Yeboah
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 17 January 1992 Stade Aline Sitoe Diatta, Ziguinchor, Senegal   Egypt 1–0 1–0 1992 African Cup of Nations
2 20 January 1992 Stade Leopold Senghor, Dakar, Senegal   Congo 1–0 2–1 1992 African Cup of Nations
3 30 August 1992 Accra Sports Stadium, Accra, Ghana   Burkina Faso 1–0 3–0 1994 African Cup of Nations Qualifier
4 2–0
5 25 July 1993 Samuel Kanyon Doe Sports Complex, Monrovia, Liberia   Liberia 2–0 2–0 1994 African Cup of Nations Qualifier
6 23 April 1995 Accra Sports Stadium, Accra, Ghana   Niger 1–0 1–0 1996 African Cup of Nations Qualifier
7 14 January 1996 EPRU Stadium, Port Elizabeth, South Africa   Ivory Coast 1–0 2–0 1996 African Cup of Nations
8 28 January 1996 EPRU Stadium, Port Elizabeth, South Africa   Zaire 1–0 1–0 1996 African Cup of Nations

Honours

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[11][12]

Asante Kotoko

Leeds United

Al Ittihad

Ghana

Individual

References

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  1. 1.0 1.1 "Tony Yeboah". Barry Hugman's Footballers.
  2. "Tony Yeboah". worldfootball.net. World Football. Retrieved 19 November 2017.
  3. "Top 5 Ghanaian players who made their mark in the English Premier League". Ghana Soccernet. Retrieved 19 November 2017.
  4. "We will survive-Tony Yeboah". Modern Ghana. 25 November 2008. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
  5. Lomas, Mark (27 August 2013). "Whatever happened to ... Tony Yeboah?". ESPN. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 19 November 2017.
  6. "Anthony Yeboah, Biography". www.ghanaweb.com. Retrieved 2021-03-10.
  7. Alderman, Rob (17 January 2011). "What Ever Happened To: Tony Yeboah". In The Stands. Retrieved 21 January 2011.
  8. "EXCLUSIVE: Tony Yeboah's son Kelvin signs one-year deal with German side WSG Wattens". Ghana Soccernet. 19 June 2018. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
  9. "Yeboah: Anthony (Tony)". Ozwhitelufc.net.au. Retrieved 18 January 2014.
  10. "Anthony Yeboah" (in German). fussballdaten.de. Retrieved 18 January 2014.
  11. 11.0 11.1 "Tony Yeboah". RSSSF. Retrieved 19 November 2017.
  12. "Tony Yeboah, one of the first black players to play in Germany". Football Memories. Retrieved 19 November 2017.
  13. "Bundesliga Historie 1992/93" (in German). kicker.
  14. "Bundesliga Historie 1993/94" (in German). kicker.
  15. Pierrend, José Luis (16 January 2014). "FIFA Awards". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 18 January 2014.
  16. "Anthony Yeboah: Overview". Premier League. Retrieved 27 September 2018.