| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | (1973-12-28)28 December 1973 (age 51) | ||||||||||||||||
| 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 | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
| 1990–1992 | Metz | ||||||||||||||||
| 1992–1993 | Al Ahli | 22 | (14) | ||||||||||||||
| 1993–1995 | Lecce | 34 | (7) | ||||||||||||||
| 1995–1996 | União Leiria | 13 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| 1996–1997 | Vitória Setúbal | 23 | (8) | ||||||||||||||
| 1997–1999 | Boavista | 56 | (31) | ||||||||||||||
| 1999–2000 | Sporting CP | 26 | (7) | ||||||||||||||
| 2000–2001 | Yozgatspor | 19 | (11) | ||||||||||||||
| 2001–2002 | Kocaelispor | 28 | (10) | ||||||||||||||
| 2002–2003 | Shenyang Ginde | 28 | (14) | ||||||||||||||
| 2004–2006 | Inter Shanghai | 56 | (26) | ||||||||||||||
| 2007 | Vitória Setúbal | 12 | (3) | ||||||||||||||
| Total | 317 | (132) | |||||||||||||||
| International career | |||||||||||||||||
| 1992–2001 | Ghana | 25 | (9) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||||||||||||||||
Kwame Ayew[needs Akan IPA] (born 28 December 1973) is aGhanaian former professionalfootballer who played as astriker.
During nearly 20 years he played professionally in six countries, mainly in Portugal where he appeared for four teams in the 90s, amassingPrimeira Liga totals of 131 games and 51 goals over the course of six seasons.
Born inTamale, Ayew started playing professionally in France at only 17, spending a couple ofLigue 1 seasons withFC Metz, then moved to Qatar withAl Ahli SC and played in another country in the following two years,Italy, appearing and scoring sparingly forU.S. Lecce (for instance, he netted four goals in1993–94'sSerie 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 withU.D. Leiria andVitória de Setúbal, then impressed atBoavista F.C. also in thePrimeira Liga, scoring 15 times in 27 games inhis second season to earn his team a best-ever at the time runner-up place, behind neighboursFC Porto.
After nearly 50 official goals for Boavista, Ayew moved to country giantsSporting Clube de Portugal. Even though he was never an automatic first-choice (having to battle for a starting berth withAlberto Acosta,Edmílson andMbo Mpenza[1]), he netted seven goals in 13 starts as theLions ended an 18-year drought andconquered 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 theSadinosavoided top flight relegation by one point; he retired from the game shortly after.
Ayew was a member of theGhana national team thatwon the bronze medal at the1992 Summer Olympics inBarcelona, scoring six goals in as many games.[3] In total, he won 25 seniorcaps.
Ayew attendedGhana Senior High School in Tamale.[4]
Football ran in Ayew's family: his brothersAbedi and Sola also played football, the former spending a big part of his career withOlympique de Marseille. His nephews,André,Jordan andRahim, also played the sport professionally.[5]
| Club | Season | League | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | ||
Boavista
Sporting
Kocaelispor
Ghana
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