Stephen Appiah: Difference between revisions

Stephen Appiah
Personal information
Full name	Stephen Appiah
Height	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s)	Midfielder
Team information
Current team	Free agent
	‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 08 February 2007

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Revision as of 01:10, 9 September 2008

Stephen Appiah (born December 24, 1980) is a Ghanaian International football midfielder and the captain of the Ghana national team who is currently a free agent after being released by turkish side Fenerbahçe.

With the Ghana national team, he has played at the 1995 FIFA U-17 World Championship, the 1997 and 1999 World Youth Championships, the 2004 Olympic tournament, and the 2006 World Cup, where the team reached the second round.

Club career

He earned the nickname Tornado due to the fact that he is very dominant in midfield and is also very strong. A combative player, Stephen Appiah has a strong engine and good tactical awareness. He is an all-round box-to-box midfielder who is 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 SK’s youth squad but was not signed and he returned to Accra Hearts of Oak.[1]

In 1997, the combative midfielder moved abroad to join Italian club Udinese Calcio in the Serie A championship. He spent three seasons with the club, and it was at the Friuli stadium that he morphed from a striker of promise into a midfield player of substance. Appiah assumed the deeper, more constructive role following his debut against US Lecce in February 1998.

In 2000, a transfer to Parma FC was jeopardised by viral hepatitis, but Appiah overcame the illness to move to Parma in the summer of 2000. The Ghanaian was on the fringe of becoming a regular at the Ennio Tardini stadium, and the club thought it would aid his development to spend the 2002-03 season on loan at Brescia Calcio. A first-team regular for Brescia, Appiah scored seven times in 31 games.

This alerted defending Serie A champions Juventus Football Club to his talents. Juventus paid Parma €2m, in the 2003 summer, to secure Appiah's services on loan, with an option of a permanent €6m transfer in 2004. "It is a terrific opportunity for me", Appiah said. "You cannot ask for more than to play for a team like Juve." In 2003, Stephen Appiah was nominated and finished 8th for African Footballer of the Year. He went on to enjoy a solid first season for Juventus at the Delle Alpi stadium, playing 30 Serie A games, appearing in the Coppa Italia final, won by S.S. Lazio over two legs, and making his debut in the UEFA Champions League. Although Appiah lost his place in the team to Manuele Blasi early in his second season, he played 18 Serie A games as Juventus won the domestic title for the 28th time.

In July 2005, he was transferred from Juventus to Fenerbahçe, the defending Turkish champions, for €8 million. He won the Turkish Super League Championship with Fenerbahçe in their centenary year. At the end of the 2006/07 season, Appiah expressed a desire to move on from Fenerbahçe SK although the club wished to extend his current contract.

After a long knee injury layoff, Appiah came off the bench in the UEFA Champions League match for Fenerbahçe against PSV Eindhoven on 7 November 2007, marking a complete recovery for him. On 8 November 2007, he was linked with a sensational return to Juventus by the Italian media[2]. Appiah went to Italy for rehabilitation of his injury. The long-term injury also forced Appiah to miss the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations tournament in which Ghana were eliminated at the semi-final stage.

On the 7th September 2008, Sky Sports reported that Stephen Appiah was the subject of interest from English Premier League clubs Arsenal, West Ham United And Portsmouth. Each of the three clubs were reported to have representatives at Ghana's 1-0 defeat to Libya. According to reports, as well as the three Premier League clubs, Appiah is being watched by a 'Major European Team'.^[1]

- - - - BREAKING NEWS**************

The talented Ghanian born midfielder Stephen Appiah signed a conditional 2 years deal with Arsenal FC of england. Arsenal was able to beat out West Ham United for his signature. He is in contention to feature in Arsenal's game against Blackburn rovers on Sat Aug 13th. Stephen Appiah was delighted about his move according to the interview his agent gave to the reporters " Stephen is very happy to land his dream move to the premership and to one of the biggest clubs in world football". He will slot in beside Cesc Fbregas to beef-up Arsenal's midfield.

He Haven't signed for anyone yet.

Outside football

Appiah has founded his own charity organisation called StepApp Foundation designed to provide a better quality of living for poverty stricken people across Africa.

On 14 November, 2007 it was announced that he had designed a clothing line, also called StepApp, which will be released in late-November,in his hometown of Accra, with all proceeds going to the StepApp foundation. The clothing line will initially be released in Africa before arriving in Europe and the U.S.A. in the following months.