Stephen Appiah

Stephen Leroy Appiah (/ˈæpiɑː/ AP-ee-ah; born 24 December 1980) is a Ghanaian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Appiah was a member of the Ghana national team, which he has represented at the youth, Olympic, and senior levels. He captained Ghana at their World Cup debut in 2006 and was a member of their squad for the 2010 World Cup.

Stephen Appiah
Appiah with Fenerbahçe in July 2006
Personal information
Full name Stephen Leroy Appiah
Date of birth (1980-12-24) 24 December 1980
Place of birth Accra, Ghana
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s) Midfielder
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1995–1997 Hearts of Oak 21 (19)
1997–2000 Udinese 36 (0)
2000–2003 Parma 28 (0)
2002–2003 → Brescia (loan) 31 (7)
2003–2005 Juventus 48 (3)
2005–2008 Fenerbahçe 64 (11)
2009–2010 Bologna 2 (0)
2010–2011 Cesena 14 (0)
2012 Vojvodina 11 (1)
Total 255 (41)
National team
Ghana U17
Ghana U20
1995–2010 Ghana 67 (14)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Club career

Appiah began his career at local club Hearts of Oak in 1995, at 15 years of age. In 1996, he had trials with Galatasaray's youth squad[1] but was not signed and he returned to Hearts of Oak.

In 1997, he moved abroad to join Italian Serie A side Udinese, where he initially played as a striker. He spent three seasons with the club, later changing positions during his time there, moving to a deeper midfield position. A transfer to Parma in 1999 was jeopardised by viral hepatitis,[2] but Appiah overcame the illness to move there in the summer of 2000. After two seasons at Parma, Appiah went on loan to Brescia for the 2002–03 season. Appiah became a first-team regular for the Lombardians, and scored seven times in 31 games.

Appiah's success at Parma alerted defending Serie A champions Juventus to his talents. Juventus paid Parma €2 million in the summer of 2003 to secure Appiah's services on loan, with an option to a permanent €6 million transfer in 2004. In 2003, Appiah finished 8th for African Footballer of the Year.[3]

He went on to enjoy a good first season for Juventus, playing in 30 Serie A games and appearing in the Coppa Italia final. He also made his debut in the UEFA Champions League. In his second season at Juventus, Appiah played in 18 Serie A games.[4]

Fenerbahçe

In July 2005, he was transferred from Juventus to Turkish giants Fenerbahçe for €8 million.[5] He went on to win the Turkish Super League Championship with the club in their centenary year. In January 2007 he was injured during the international duty with the Black Stars and he delayed the operation on his left knee until end of season.[6]

At the end of the 2006–07 season, Appiah expressed a desire to leave and a German club made an offer of €4 million to Fenerbahçe, after Appiah's agent contacted other clubs without Fenerbahçe's permission.[6] Fenerbahçe rejected the offer.[6]

Injury and contract dispute

After an extended knee-injury layoff, Appiah came off the bench for Fenerbahçe in the Turkish Super League on 6 October 2007. However, the injury recurred after his last game on 1 December, and Appiah went to Italy for rehabilitation on 20 December 2007.[6] The long-term injury forced him to miss the 2008 African Cup of Nations as a player, instead, he became a special adviser of the team.[6] Fenerbahçe also wanted to de-register Appiah as he occupied a foreigner quota, but he refused as he was unclear with the matter.[6] Appiah also refused to take rehabilitation in Turkey.[6] The club also thought that Appiah was actually AWOL and Appiah thought the club exposed his medical history to the press and mistreatment to his injury, although the club defended that it had made an appointment for Appiah to visit Mayo Clinic, United States, but Appiah did not attend.[6] On 1 February 2008, Appiah formally submitted a claim of mistreatment by asking to leave as free agent on 1 July 2008 and received the pre-agreed 2008–09 season salary of €2 million.[6] In response, Fenerbahçe notified FIFA. In April 2008 the case went to FIFA Dispute Resolution Chamber (DRC), and both parties sued each other.[6] He unilaterally terminated the contract at the end of season, as he thought the club had breached the contract by not fulfilling its duties.[7][8] He also discussed with West Ham United in summer 2008 for a possible contract.[9] DRC ordered Appiah to pay Fenerbahçe €2,281,915 as he breached the contract without just cause on 9 January 2009.[6] He immediately appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in May after received the decision on 5 May 2009 and the club also submitted its appeal. On 7 June 2010 CAS ruled that Appiah did not need to pay Fenerbahçe, as Fenerbahçe saved more in wages (€2,633,020.65) than losses (€2,496,278.85).[6]

Serie A return

Appiah was on trial with the London-based club Tottenham Hotspur in January 2009 with a view to a 6-month permanent contract,[10] however, concerns over his knee and fitness resulted in no contract being offered, as Spurs took up the option of signing Wilson Palacios from Wigan instead. The following month Appiah underwent a trial at Rubin Kazan, but the Russian champions decided against signing the player because of the same fitness concerns. Despite being without a club since his departure from Fenerbahçe in June 2008, Appiah remained a regular with the national team throughout the 2008–09 season.

On 1 November 2009, Bologna announced the signing of Appiah on a free transfer.[11]

On 7 August 2010, Appiah signed for newly-promoted Italian Serie A side Cesena on a one-year deal with the option of signing on for another year if the club managed to remain in the top flight. At the end of the 2010–11 season his contract with Cesena expired, and he became a free agent.[12]

Vojvodina

On 2 February 2012, after passing medical exams, Appiah signed a six-month deal with Serbian side Vojvodina.[13] Along with Almami Moreira and Aleksandar Katai, he was the main winter-break signing of Vojvodina in order to challenge Belgrade clubs dominance and guarantee a European competition place. He made his Serbian SuperLiga debut as a starter in a 16-round match played on 4 March 2012 against Radnički Kragujevac.[14]

Until the end of the 2011–12 Serbian SuperLiga season, he gathered 11 league appearances and has scored his only goal in the deciding last-round home 2–1 victory against Red Star Belgrade,[15] which put Vojvodina on a final third place in the league and guaranteed a spot in next season's UEFA Europa League.

International career
Appiah at the 2006 FIFA World Cup

Appiah was part of the Ghana squad which won the FIFA U-17 World Championship tournament in 1995 at age 14. The team beat Brazil in the final to lift the trophy.[16]

Olympics

In 2004 Olympics game in Athens, Greece. He was one of three 'over-aged players' in the squad. Appiah had carved a niche for himself as a stylish and composed attacking midfielder, who had a deadly eye for goal as well. He scored twice in that short stint in Athens, shining in all three group games, running the attacking department in spectacular fashion.[17]

Black Stars

Stephen Appiah's case is very significant as he made his Black Stars debut the very day he celebrated his 16th birthday on 24 December 1996. The Ghana legend who also rose to become the captain of the Black Stars made his debut when Ghana played Benin in a four nations tournament in Cotonou. Appiah replaced then skipper Abedi Pele in the 80th minute after Ghana had taken a commanding 2-0 lead.[18]

Captain

He first took over the armband when Ghana faced Slovenia in a friendly fixture and would go on to lead the team to secure a historic first-time qualification for the World Cup in 2006. "When I was offered the captaincy, I said 'no'. I thought [goalkeeper] Richard Kingson was the most experienced in the team at the time so I said he should lead the team.

"But Kingson tapped me and told me to accept the role and that he and the other senior players would support me.

"After that, I called [former Black Stars captain] Abedi Pele and informed him. He offered me advice and told me I was a born-leader so I shouldn't be afraid but it would be difficult because not everybody will accept my decisions.

"I also called [Samuel] Osei Kuffour, Akonnor and others to seek their blessings.

"I didn't win any trophies [with the national team]. People won trophies but their target was always to play in the World Cup. So far as we qualified for the World Cup it was successful. I would have also loved to win an Africa Cup of Nations."[19] Stephen Appiah Captain Ghana to its first World Cup in 2006 and 2010 edition.

Caps

Stephen "Tornado" Appiah who led Ghana to its maiden World Cup appearance in 2006 and to the 2010 edition, had 67 caps and scored 14 international goals.[20]

Style of play

Appiah was a talented, tenacious, and physically strong, all-round box-to-box midfielder, who was capable of defending well, as well as orchestrating attacks, creating chances for teammates, and even scoring goals himself, due to his vision, technique, aggressive tackling, athletic attributes, stamina, and his powerful and accurate shot from distance with his right foot.[21][22][23][24][25][26] A versatile, powerful, and hard-working player, he was capable of playing anywhere in midfield, and adapting himself to several different formations, but usually operated in the centre of the pitch.[27][28]

Other endeavours

Appiah has designed a clothing line named StepApp that was released in late November 2007 in his hometown of Accra. All proceeds go to the StepApp foundation.[29] The clothing line will initially be released in Africa before arriving in Europe and the United States in the following months. After release the StepApp clothing line has run into trouble.[30]

Black star Team Manager

In May 2017 Stephen Leroy Appiah was named by the Ghana Football Association (GFA) as the Team Manager for the Black Star. The former Ghanaian international player was for the first time given the chance to serve as a technical member of the team after retiring from football.[31]

Career statistics

Club
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition[32]
Club Season League Cup Continental Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Udinese 1997–98 Serie A 11000––110
1998–99 21063–2[lower-alpha 1]0293
1999–00 400010–50
Total 360631020453
Parma 2000–01 Serie A 1505161–262
2001–02 1303070–230
Total 2808113100492
Brescia 2002–03 Serie A 3171000–327
Juventus 2003–04 Serie A 30180701[lower-alpha 2]0461
2004–05 1822030–232
Total 48310010010693
Fenerbahçe 2005–06 Süper Lig 3286162–4411
2006–07 26310103–376
2007–08 601020–90
Total 641181185009017
Bologna 2009–10 Serie A 200000–20
Cesena 2010–11 Serie A 1401000–150
Vojvodina 2011–12 SuperLiga 1112000–131
Career total 234223654263031533
  1. Two appearances in season UEFA Cup qualification
  2. One appearance in 2003 Supercoppa Italiana.

International
Appearances and goals by national team and year[32]
National teamYearAppsGoals
Ghana 199510
199600
199700
199820
199910
200051
200152
200220
200353
200452
200572
2006162
200731
200831
200971
201050
Total6715

Honours

Club

Hearts of Oak[15]

Parma[15]

Juventus[15][nb 1]

Fenerbahçe[15]

International

Ghana U17[15]

Individual

Notes
  1. Not including the 2004–05 title, which was revoked following the Calciopoli scandal.

References
  1. "Stephen Appiah ,". mobile.ghanaweb.com. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  2. "Appiah restituito all' Udinese". La Gazzetta dello Sport (in Italian). 1 July 1999. Retrieved 29 May 2010.
  3. "Afrofootball - Stephen Appiah - Ghana". www.afrofootball.com. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  4. "Afrofootball - Stephen Appiah - Ghana". www.afrofootball.com. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  5. "Fenerbahce buoyed by Zico's Brazilian touch". fifa.com. FIFA. 31 August 2006.
  6. "CAS 2009/A/1856 – Club X. v/ A. & CAS 2009/A/1857 – A. v/ Club X." (PDF). CAS. 7 June 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 July 2011. Retrieved 18 February 2011.
  7. "Ghana captain Appiah quits Fenerbahce after row". soccernet.espn.go.com. ESPN. 18 August 2008.
  8. "Player News and Rumors: Fenerbahce betray Stephen Appiah". ghana.worldcupblog.org. Archived from the original on 16 July 2012.
  9. "Di Michele and Ilunga sign". West Ham United FC. 2 September 2008. Archived from the original on 23 May 2012. Retrieved 1 November 2011.
  10. "Appiah chases Tottenham contract". BBC Sport (in Italian). 6 January 2009. Retrieved 4 April 2011.
  11. "Appiah Signs For Bologna". Modern Ghana. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  12. "Stephen Appiah joins Cesena". Ghana Business News. 7 August 2010. Retrieved 8 August 2010.
  13. Ghana, News (5 February 2012). "Stephen Appiah Signs 6 Month Deal with Serbian Side Vojvodina". News Ghana. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  14. Association, Ghana Football. "Appiah makes Serbian league debut". www.ghanafa.org. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  15. Stephen Appiah at Soccerway
  16. Larweh, Kwame. "Stephen Appiah: Transition from junior to senior teams is Ghana's bane". Graphic SPORTS. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  17. "Stephen Appiah, Odartey Lamptey and Ghana's top five Olympic football stars ever | Goal.com". www.goal.com. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  18. "Ghana's oldest and youngest debutants – Part 1 | Goal.com". www.goal.com. Retrieved 29 June 2020.
  19. "Ex-Juventus star Stephen Appiah opens up on Ghana coaching role, Kwasi Appiah and Andre Ayew | Goal.com". www.goal.com. Retrieved 29 June 2020.
  20. Association, Ghana Football. "Appiah says final goodbye to football as testimonial game ends in a draw". www.ghanafa.org. Retrieved 29 June 2020.
  21. Corrado Zunino (11 February 2009). "La fuga di Appiah travolto dai debiti" (in Italian). La Repubblica. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
  22. Stefano Bedeschi (23 December 2013). "Gli Eroi in Biancondero: Stephen Appiah" (in Italian). Tutto Juve. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
  23. Fabio Ellena (22 December 2017). "Stephen APPIAH" (in Italian). Il Pallone Racconta. Retrieved 10 August 2018.
  24. "Il Palermo si arrende a Istanbul prende 3 gol dal Fenerbahce di Zico" (in Italian). La Repubblica. 23 November 2006. Retrieved 10 August 2018.
  25. "Brivido caldo contro il Ghana Italia sotto, poi arriva Gilardino" (in Italian). La Repubblica. 12 August 2004. Retrieved 10 August 2018.
  26. "Stephen Appiah happy to join Iranian league". Ghana FA. Retrieved 10 August 2018.
  27. Gino Minguzzi (8 August 2003). "Davids è sempre più caso Lippi punta su Appiah" (in Italian). Il Corriere della Sera. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
  28. Gerardo Muollo (14 July 2003). "Il cugino di Appiah al "Citta"" (in Italian). Il Mattino di Padova. Retrieved 10 August 2018.
  29. "StepApp the Official site".
  30. Ike, Yemoh. "Sark Clothing Might Fold Up Like Stephen Appiah's StepApp".
  31. "Stephen Appiah named Black Stars team manager". www.ghanaweb.com. 3 May 2017. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  32. "Appiah, Stephen". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmerman.
  33. "Olympic Football All-Star Team". FIFA. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
  34. "All-Star Team of the Tournament". CAF. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
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