STEPHEN APPIAH: AN EPITOME OF UNPARALLELED SUCCESS IN FOOTBALL

 STEPHEN APPIAH

Stephen Leroy Appiah was born on December 24, 1980 to Bartholomew Nii Sackey Appiah and Comfort Afua Amootey both of blessed memory.
Motivated by a desire to strive for excellence ahead of mediocrity, he chose football as a career which endeared him to all and sundry.

Featuring for Mamprobi-based Mighty Victory in his formative years, the midfielder's onfield exploits at the Indadfa Park caught the eye of many who saw him in action.

This merited him an inclusion in the Samuel Hemans Arday-led Black Starlets team which beat Brazil in the 1995 FIFA Under-17 World Cup Final and joined Hearts of Oak later.

On April 17, 1996, he famously notched a hat trick at home in a league fixture against Asante Kotoko and played an integral role as the Phobians triumphed in the FA Cup that season.

In the ensuing year, he played a part in Hearts' league conquest and featured for the Francis Oti Akenteng-led Black Satellites side who finished in fourth place at the FIFA Under-20 World Cup held in Malaysia.

 STEPHEN APPIAH

A career-defining move to Italian Serie A outfit Udinese followed in 1998.

Having featured for Ghana under the tutelage of Giuseppe Dossena at the 1999 FIFA Under-20 World Cup staged in Nigeria, he later cross carpeted to Parma and lifted a Coppa Italia winners medal in 2002.

After a brief stint with Brescia where his teammates were Roberto Baggio and Josep Guardiola, he joined star-studded and two-time UEFA Champions League winners Juventus.

His next destination saw him in action for Serbian side Vojvodina and Turkish giants Fenerbahce with whom he tasted league success in 2007.

The midfield dynamo who debuted for Ghana in 1996 scored fifteen goals in sixty-seven caps before hanging his boots.

Under his captaincy, Ghana played at the 2004 Olympiad held in Greece and also appeared at the 2006 and 2010 World Cup tournaments.