Stephen Appiah
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - 05/2014
Personal information
Full name:
Stephen Leroy Appiah
Date of birth:
24 December 1980
Place of birth:
Accra, Greater Accra, Ghana
Height:
1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Playing position:
Midfield General
Box-to-Box Midfielder
Midfielder
Senior career*
Hearts of Oak: 1995-1997
21x apps/ 19x goals
Udinese: 1997-2000
36x apps/ 0x goals
Parma: 2000-2003
28x apps/ 0x goals
→ Brescia (loan): 2002-2003
31x apps/ 7x goals
Juventus: 2003-2005
48x apps / 3x goals
Fenerbahçe: 2005-2008
64x apps / 11x goals
Bologna: 2009-2010
2x apps / 0x goals
Cesena: 2010-2011
14x apps / 0x goals
Vojvodina: 2012
11x apps / 1x goals
Total:
255x apps / 41x goals
National team
Ghana: 1995-2010
67x apps / 14x goals
Appiah captaining Ghana at the 2006 World Cup
Stephen Leroy Appiah (born 24 December 1980) is a Ghanaian retired 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.
Club career
A strong all-round box-to-box midfielder able to defend as well as create and score goals, 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 but was not signed and he returned to Hearts of Oak.
In 1997 he moved abroad to join Italian Serie A side Udinese. He spent three seasons with the club and while there changed from striker to midfield.
A transfer to Parma in 1999 was jeopardised by viral hepatitis, 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.
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.
Fenerbahçe
In July 2005, he was transferred from Juventus to Turkish giants Fenerbahçe for €8 million. He went on to win the Turkish Super League Championship with the club in their centenary year.
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, 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.
On 7 August 2010, Appiah signed for newly promoted Italian Serie A side Cesena on a one-year deal with the option of another year if the club stays in the top flight. At the end of the 2010/2011 season his contract expires with Cesena and remains untied.
Post Serie A
On 7 December 2011, the Daily Mail reported that Appiah was on the verge of joining Blackburn Rovers on a one-year deal after a successful trial. 'Appiah impressed and was told by Blackburn boss Steve Kean that he has to work on his fitness level,' his spokesperson told GHANAsoccernet.comVojvodina
On 2 February 2012, after passing medical exams, Appiah signed a six-month deal with Serbian side Vojvodina. 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.
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, which put Vojvodina on a final third place in the league and guaranteed a spot in next season´s UEFA Europa League.