Kwame Ayew

Club career

Born in Tamale, Ayew started playing professionally in France at only 17, spending a couple of Ligue 1 seasons with FC Metz, then moved to Qatar with Al Ahli SC and played in another country in the following two years, Italy, appearing and scoring sparingly for U.S. Lecce (for instance, he netted four goals in 1993–94's Serie A as his club ranked last with only 28 goals, a competition-worst).

Ayew moved to Portugal in 1995, and would remain there in the following five years. He started with U.D. Leiria and Vitória de Setúbal, then impressed at Boavista F.C. also in the Primeira Liga, scoring 15 times in 27 games in his second season to earn his team a best-ever at the time runner-up place, behind neighbours FC Porto.

After nearly 50 official goals for Boavista, Ayew moved to country giants Sporting Clube de Portugal. Even though he was never an automatic first-choice (having to battle for a starting berth with Alberto Acosta, Edmílson and Mbo Mpenza), he netted seven goals in 13 starts as the Lions ended an 18-year drought and conquered the national championship.

In the following years Ayew would play in Turkey (two seasons) and China (five), rarely settling with a club. In January 2007 the 33-year-old returned to former side Setúbal, contributing solidly as the Sadinos avoided top flight relegation by one point; he retired from the game shortly after.

International career

Ayew was a member of the Ghana national team that won the bronze medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, scoring six goals in as many games. In total, he won 25 senior caps.

Personal life

Football ran in Ayew's family: his brothers Abedi and Sola also played football, the former spending a big part of his career with Olympique de Marseille. His nephews, André, Jordan and Rahim, also played the sport professionally.

Ayew attended Ghana Senior High School in Tamale.

Career statistics

Honours

Boavista

• Supertaça de Portugal: 1997

Sporting

• Primeira Liga: 1999–2000

Kocaelispor

• Turkish Cup: 2001–02

Ghana

• Olympic Bronze Medal: 1992

References

References

1. (14 October 1999). "Inácio testa Ayew ao lado de Acosta". [[Record (Portuguese newspaper).
2. (2 June 2000). "Ayew pode deixar Alvalade". Record.
3. {{FIFA player. 93135
4. (6 February 2012). "Le clan Ayew, une dynastie de footballeurs". Slate Afrique.
5. Ibrahimah, Seidu. (13 March 2015). "Ghanasco, Tamale, Sends Out Distress Call To Her Sons And Daughters". Modern Ghana.
6. {{NFT. 13088
7. "Kwame Ayew » Club matches".
8. {{ForaDeJogo. 197312280002