Top 10 Most Talented Ghanaian footballers who never made big name abroad : Ghana has produced hundreds of footballers who went into Europe and made the world interested in Ghana football and over the years we have seen European soccer scouts storm the country , searching for quality young footballers and setting up various soccer academies to nurture talents mainly for the European markets.
However , not all football talents from the the country are able to reach greater heights outside Ghana and in this first episode , GhanaSportsMarket.com’s Editorial Director Gariba Raubil takes a look at the 10 Talented Ghanaian Footballers who never made big name abroad.
Some of them too were not fortunate enough to play in the best leagues of the world.
If European football fans were to mention names of most famous Ghanaian players , names such as Michael Essien , Sulley Muntari , Tony Yeboah , Andre Ayew , Abedi Ayew , Sammy Kuffour and co would come to mind first.
The name of someone like Stephen Oduro , perhaps , will never be mentioned but we all (in Ghana ) know Oduro was a soccer gem.
Now we begin the list which is not in any particular order.
1.Ishmael Addo :
Could you imagine that three-time top scorer of the Ghana Premier League Ishmael Addo never really succeeded outside Ghana.
Addo started his professional football career at Ghana’s Hearts of Oak in 1998, where he remained for four seasons. He was the top scorer of the Ghana Premier League for three seasons.
During his spell with the club, he won the 2000 CAF Champions League and 2001 Super Cup, four Ghanaian League championships (1997–98, 1999, 2000, 2001) and two Ghanaian FA Cups (1999, 2000). In his final playing year with Hearts of Oak, Addo broke the Ghanaian League season top-scorer record with 22 goals thus helping his side win the league and cup double.
During that same season, he scored two late, controversial goals for Hearts of Oak to defeat arch-rivals Asante Kotoko 2–1, in a match that was marred by the worst stadium disaster ever to take place in Africa.
Addo moved to Bastia in a six-month loan deal in 2002 but was never able to break into the Ligue 1 side.
2.Emmanuel Osei Kuffour :
You are not given the nickname “The General” for nothing. Kuffour was indeed the midfield general
During his career, Accra-born Kuffour represented Ebusua Dwarfs, Accra Hearts of Oak SC, FC Anzhi Makhachkala, Tractor Sazi FC, Ashanti Gold SC, Asante Kotoko FC, Power F.C. and Al-Ittihad Club Tripoli, playing in four countries.
Kuffour won the Ghana Premier League six times, the CAF Champions League, the CAF Confederation Cup and the CAF Super Cup.[3]
He gained 31 caps for Ghana and was picked for the squad at both the 2000 and 2002 Africa Cup of Nations, also featuring in the 1996 Summer Olympics football tournament.
But in terms of Ghanaian footballers who made name abroad , the name of Emmanuel Osei Kuffour cannot be mentioned.
3.Stephen Oduro :
The petit midfielder could be considered to be the “Xavi” of Ghana football. He was unplayable during his peak days at Asante Kotoko but his talent could only be witnessed by the Ghanaian soccer fans.
He never played in Europe as the likes of Michael Essien , Sulley Muntari and co did.
Oduro nicknamed “Yaw Zico or Tico Tico” because of his height, began his career with Real Tamale United and was transferred in 2000 to Asante Kotoko.
He was an instrumental part to porcupine warriors since his arrival from the north giants. Asante Kotoko fans also call him the darling boy. Oduro was one of Ghana-based freekick expert and he scored a brilliant one against rivals Hearts of Oak in a 2–0 win at the Kumasi Sports Stadium in 2003.
4.Charles Taylor :
I watched El Hadj Diouf and I dare to say that Charles Taylor was at the same level as the Senegalese in terms of talent and ability.
Charles Kweku Bismark Taylor Asampong (born 14 July 1981 in Sefwi, Western Region) is a former Ghanaian professional footballer who played as a striker or an attacking midfielder.
He had his greatest playing days and is one of the few players to play for Accra Hearts of Oak S.C. and Asante Kotoko. As a kid, he was often called tailor, after his uncle who was a tailor as he used to help his uncle with work, hence, he adopted the name Charles Taylor after the former Liberian president. Nicknamed “Terror” due to his ability to terrorise opponents.
He’s arguably one of the greatest players to ever play the Ghana premier league and a key member of the famous “64 Battalion” squad of Accra Hearts of Oak S.C. that won the African Champions League in 2000 and consecutive Ghanaian league titles.
Despite his enormous talent , Taylor did not enjoy football in Europe.
5.Bernard Don Bortey :
Bortey began his career in 2000 with Ghapoha Readers in Tema. One year later, he moved to Accra Hearts of Oak SC and became an integral part of the “64 Battalion” and a deadly force alongside Charles Asampong Taylor, Ishmael Addo, Emmanuel Osei Kuffour.
Hearts loaned him out in 2002 to Al Wasl FC in Dubai, where he played for 6 months. He returned in June 2002 to Hearts where he won the league and shared the Top Scorer award with Charles Asampong Taylor.
He left Hearts of Oak for Aduana FC in 2010.
His goal against South African side Santos in 2006 from around the center circle underlines Bortey’s natural soccer talent. Few players kicked the ball better than the “Serial Killer”.
6.Godfred Saka :
What a talent Saka was. I am not talking about Bukayo Saka of Arsenal. I mean Godfred Saka who won two Premier League titles with Aduana FC.
Best known for playing as a right-back for Aduana Stars and the Ghana CHAN football team.
He went on to play for Karela United and Accra Great Olympics. He served as captain for Aduana Stars and Karela United. Saka played for Aduana Stars for 8 years and was included in the team for the Ghana Premier League that was won in the 2009–10 season and the 2017 season.
At the international level, he represented Ghana for four major tournaments, playing and winning the WAFU Nations Cup in 2013, at two African Nations Championship tournament in 2014 and 2016 and the COSAFA Cup in 2015.
7.Osei Kofi :
Osei Kofi is a retired Ghanaian footballer. He played for Asante Kotoko S.C. and the Ghana national football team. He was a joint top score in the 1965 Africa Cup of Nations tournament held in Tunis, Tunisia leading to Ghana winning the tournament for a second time.
He was joint top goalscorer in 1965 Africa Cup of Nations and he was the third highest scorer in the 1968 Africa Cup of Nations. Osei Kofi was called the ‘wizard dribbler’ because of his ball dribbling skills.
Osei Kofi apparently turned down a financial incentive to play in Europe at his prime in 1969. He later became a priest.
8.Sammy Adjei :
When I watch Edouard Mendy of Senegal at Chelsea , Andre Onana at Inter Milan and Morocco’s Bono of Sevilla then I wonder why fortune did not take Sammy Adjei to that top level of European soccer. Trust me he was better than all these name mentioned in terms of pure goalkeeping talent. Adjei was a special type of custodian.
He was born in Accra, Ghana on 1st September 1980. He was transferred from Accra-based club Hearts of Oak to Club Africain for a reported $150,000 on 15 September 2005. On 29 November 2008, he returned to Hearts of Oak for a second spell with the club.
He agreed to return to Hearts Of Oak SC on a one-year contract in order to convince then national team coach Milovan Rajevac to include him in the national side.
In July 2009, he trialled with South African club Maritzburg United.
9.Yaw Amankwah Mireku :
Yaw Amankwah Mireku (born 25 November 1979) is a Ghanaian former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. He was part of the 64 battalion team of Hearts of Oak the won the 2000 CAF Champions League and 2004 CAF Confederation Cup.
Amankwah began his career with Hearts of Oak and was the team captain. After ten years with Hearts of Oak he left to sign with I-League team Viva Kerala on 12 June 2007.
However , Mireku as talented as he was could not take his professional soccer career to the best soccer destinations around the world.
10.Jordan Opoku :
Opoku is a product of Feyenoord Fetteh. Prior to that he played for the colts team, Tema Hurricans in Tema, Accra, bef0000ore being scouted in 2000 to join the Feyenoord Fetteh side. In 2003, he was adjudged as the SWAG Discovery of the Year for 2002.
Opoku gained promotion to play for the youth team of Fetteh’s mother club Feyenoord, becoming the first player from the academy in Ghana to join the main club in Holland. Opoku spent some time at Dutch club Excelsior and Belgian club Royal Antwerp FC before returning to the Ghana.
Opoku signed with Feyenoord Ghana for one year and joined in 2006 Asante Kotoko. In the 2007–2008 season Opoku won the Ghana Premier League title and the Ghana President’s Cup with Asante Kotoko.
The attacking midfielder and forward on 31 January 2010 left his club Asante Kotoko. He served as the club captain from 2010 till 2011 when he moved to Dinamo Tirana on a four-month loan deal with Dinamo Tirana.
After a short loan spell with Dinamo Tirana, Opoku became a free agent. In late January 2012, Opoku signed with Ghana Premier League club Berekum Chelsea. On 1 August 2013, Opoku re-signed for Asante Kotoko.
After playing for Thailand club Sakaeo F.C. for a year, he rejoined Asante Kotoko in December 2018 on a one-year deal. In January 2020, Opoku returned to Berekum Chelsea.
SEE ALSO :
TOP 15 : Ranking of the Ghanaian players with the most trophies won in European football and abroad
Discussion about this post