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Edward Acquah

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Edward Acquah
Personal information
Full name Edward Kobina Acquah
Date of birth (1935-07-23)23 July 1935
Date of death 5 October 2011(2011-10-05) (aged 76)
Place of death Takoradi, Ghana
Position(s) Forward
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1956-1962 Eleven Wise
1962-1965 Real Republicans
International career
1956-1964 Ghana 41 (45[1])
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Edward Kobina Acquah (23 July 1935 – 5 October 2011)[2] was a Ghanaian footballer who played as a forward. He competed for the Ghana national team at the 1964 Summer Olympics.[3] He also scored four goals for Ghana in the 1963 African Cup of Nations.[4]

Club career

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Edward started his playing career for Sekondi Eleven Wise F.C., following his father's footsteps. His father's name was Kojo Acquah and he was regarded as one finest strikers of his time. However, Edward did not start his career as a striker, instead, due to his tall stature, was deployed as a goalkeeper in his early years. He was summoned to play as a striker when their first choice keeper, betrayed Eleven Wise and went to play for another club. During this game, Edward scored 2 goals as Eleven Wise were victorious. He was also sometimes deployed as a right-winger on occasions, but he was never better than the great Baba Yara, therefore he stayed as a centre-forward.[5]

In the 1959/1960 season, Eleven Wise unfortunately finished bottom of the league with only 6 points and 10 losses. Due to Ghana not having a second division at the time, Sekondi stayed up and in the succeeding season, did the unthinkable. Acquah led Eleven Wise to one of the most entertaining seasons throughout the history of Ghanaian football. Previous season's winners Asante Kotoko were looking to become the first team in the league's history to win in it back-to-back years. However, Eleven Wise won the championship, bettering Asante Kotoko by just two points. The final game of the season, Eleven Wise were losing 1–0 to Hasacaas, in the Sekondi derby, but in the 85th minute Eleven Wise won a penalty, which Acquah converted with ease. All Eleven Wise had to do was wait, Asante Kotoko played their game later on in the day, against Cornerstones. Surprisingly, Asante Kotoko lost 2-0 and this meant that Eleven Wise were champions.[6][7][8]

According to Ohene Djan, Ghana's former FA chairman and first Director of Sport, Acquah scored over 400 goals in his club career and also 166 goals in 77 games, internationally. The club statistics contain friendly games and the international statistics contain regional games and unofficial games, totalling to 566 goals in his career. This tally could increase further, through research in newspaper reports of the time. He may be in contention of being part of RSSSF's list of players with over 500 goals[5]

International career

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Acquah was called up to the Gold Coast team on 16 December 1956 scoring a hat-trick on his debut against Sierra Leone, in a tight 4–3 victory in the Akewe Cup. Three months later, Ghana celebrated their independence from British colonial rule, thereby making this game Acquah's only appearance for the Gold Coast team.[1]

The team carried on playing, but now as Ghana. On 19 August 1962 the Real Madrid squad that had won the European Cup 5 times consecutively visited Ghana for a game. The game was electrifying; at one point Ghana led 3–2, with Acquah scoring, but a blinding pass by Ferenc Puskas set up Yanko Daucik to score the equalising goal, with only minutes to go. Acquah played a further 40 official games for Ghana, scoring 42 goals since independence, before hanging up his international boots in 1964.[5]

Career statistics

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International

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List of international goals scored by Edward Acquah[1]
No. Date Opponent Result Competition
1 16 December 1956 Sierra Leone 4-3 Akwei Cup
2
3
4 25 October 1959 Nigeria 4-1 Ol. Qualifier
5
6 6 December 1959 Egypt 2-0 Ol. Qualifier
7
8 7 February 1960 Sierra Leone 6-2 Kwame Nkrumah
9
10 3 July 1960 Egypt 2-2 Friendly
11 28 August 1960 Nigeria 4-1 WC Qualifier
12 10 September 1960 Nigeria 2-2 WC Qualifier
13
14 2 October 1960 Mali 4-1 Kwame Nkrumah
15
16 7 October 1960 Nigeria 3-0 Kwame Nkrumah
17
18 5 March 1961 Mali 3-0 Friendly
19 30 April 1961 Nigeria 2-2 African Cup Qualifiers
20 17 December 1961 Nigeria 5-1 Azikiwe Cup
21
22
23 29 September 1962 Kenya 6-2 Uhuru Cup
24
25 10 October 1962 Uganda 4-1 Uhuru Cup
26 12 October 1962 Kenya 4-0 Friendly
27
28
29 15 October 1962 Malawi 12-0 Friendly
30
31
32
33 18 October 1962 Tanzania 6-2 Friendly
34 24 February 1963 Nigeria 5-0 Kwame Nkrumah Cup
35 3 March 1963 Mali 4-0 Kwame Nkrumah Cup
36
37
38 26 November 1963 Ethiopia 2-0 African Nations Cup
39
40 1 December 1963 Sudan 3-0 African Nations Cup
41
42 18 January 1964 Liberia 5-4 Olympic Qualifiers
43
44 21 June 1964 Tunisia 1-2 Olympic Qualifiers
45 12 October 1964 Argentina 1-1 Olympics
Appearances and goals by national team and year[1]
National team Year Apps Goals
Ghana 1956 1 3
1957 2 0
1958 1 0
1959 5 4
1960 7 9
1961 5 2
1962 6 11
1963 5 10
1964 8 4
Total 41 45

Honours

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Club

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International

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Edward Acquah - Goals in International Matches". www.rsssf.org.
  2. ^ "Ex-Striker Acquah Passes Away At 76". allafrica.com. Retrieved 12 October 2011.
  3. ^ "Edward Acquah". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 1 February 2012. Retrieved 12 October 2011.
  4. ^ "African Nations Cup 1963". RSSSF. Retrieved 28 March 2012.
  5. ^ a b c Anaman, Fiifi (10 February 2023). "Ghana. Mr Sputnik. Goals".
  6. ^ "Ghana 1959/60". www.rsssf.org.
  7. ^ "Ghana 1960/61". www.rsssf.org.
  8. ^ "Sekondi Eleven Wise crowned champions of national football league". GhanaWeb. 22 January 2021.
  9. ^ "Dr Kwame Nkrumah Gold Cup - West African Soccer Federation championship". www.rsssf.org.
  10. ^ "Uganda Independence Tournament 1962". www.rsssf.org.
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