Tony Yeboah

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.

Club career
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
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.

Post-playing career
On 3 November 2008, he was appointed as the new chairman of the newly promoted Ghana Premier League club Berekum Chelsea.

Personal life
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. He is married and has two children.

His nephew, Kelvin Yeboah, is also a professional footballer.

Career statistics
Club
+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competitionClubSeasonLeagueNational CupLeague CupContinentalOtherTotalDivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals1. FC Saarbrücken1988–892. Bundesliga28920––2232111989–90371712––214020Total6526320000437231Eintracht Frankfurt1990–91Bundesliga26862–11–33111991–92341510–32–38171992–93272065–45–37301993–94221821–31–27201994–9514721–53–2111Total123681790016120015689Leeds United1994–95Premier League18122100––20131995–962212617343–39191996–97700000––70Total4724827343006632Hamburger SV1997–98Bundesliga23300–00–2331998–99341432–––37161999–200024910–63–31122000–01142101092–2542001–025000–––50Total1002852101550012135Career total335146331583352043415187

International goals
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 YeboahNo.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition1  17 January 1992  Stade Aline Sitoe Diatta, Ziguinchor, Senegal   1–0 1–0  1992 African Cup of Nations2  20 January 1992  Stade Leopold Senghor, Dakar, Senegal   1–0 2–1  1992 African Cup of Nations330 August 1992 Accra Sports Stadium, Accra, Ghana  1–0  3–0 1994 African Cup of Nations Qualifier42–05  25 July 1993  Samuel Kanyon Doe Sports Complex, Monrovia, Liberia   2–0 2–0  1994 African Cup of Nations Qualifier6  23 April 1995  Accra Sports Stadium, Accra, Ghana   1–0 1–0  1996 African Cup of Nations Qualifier7  14 January 1996  EPRU Stadium, Port Elizabeth, South Africa   1–0 2–0  1996 African Cup of Nations8  28 January 1996  EPRU Stadium, Port Elizabeth, South Africa   1–0 1–0  1996 African Cup of Nations

Honours

Asante Kotoko
Ghana Premier League: 1981, 1982, 1983
African Cup of Champions Clubs: 1983

Leeds United
Football League Cup runner-up: 1995–96

Al Ittihad
Qatar Stars League: 2001–02
Emir of Qatar Cup: 2001–02
Qatar Cup runner-up: 2001–02

Ghana
African Cup of Nations runner-up: 1992 
West African Nations Cup – SCSA Zone III: 1982, 1983, 1984

Individual
Ghana Premier League top scorer: 1986, 1987
Bundesliga top scorer: 1992–93, 1993–94
kicker Bundesliga Team of the Season: 1992–93, 1993–94
African Footballer of the Year third: 1992; second: 1993
FIFA World Player of the Year ninth: 1993
Leeds United Player of the Year: 1996
Ghana Footballer of the Year: 1997
Premier League Player of the Month: March 1995, September 1995

 References 

Category:1966 births
Category:Living people
Category:Association football forwards
Category:Ghanaian footballers