Tony Yeboah
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| Tony Yeboah | ||
 |
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| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Anthony Yeboah | |
| Date of birth | June 6, 1966 | |
| Place of birth | Kumasi, Ghana | |
| Height | 184 cm | |
| Nickname | Yegoala | |
| Position | Striker | |
| Club information | ||
| Current club | retired | |
| Professional clubs* | ||
| Years | Club | Apps (goals) |
| 1988-1990 1990-1995 1995-1997 1997-2001 |
1. FC Saarbrücken Eintracht Frankfurt Leeds United Hamburger SV |
65 (26) 123 (68) 62 (33) 100 (28) |
| National team** | ||
| Ghana | 59 (26) | |
|
* Professional club appearances and goals |
||
Anthony "Tony" Yeboah (born June 6, 1966 in Kumasi, Ghana) is a Ghanaian footballer who played for 1. FC Saarbrücken, Eintracht Frankfurt, Leeds United, Hamburger SV and Al-Ittihad. He is considered one of the most prominent and prolific goal scorers in Ghanaian and African soccer history. He was a member of the Ghanaian national team for ten years, and represented his country in 3 African nations cups during the 1990's.
[edit] Career
After spending his youth in Kumasi, Yeboah joined German club 1. FC Saarbrücken in 1988. This move was of some historical significance, because Yeboah became only the second black player of the Bundesliga, only predated by fellow Ghanaian Anthony Baffoe, who had been born and raised in Germany. This was a time where the Bundesliga was dominated by Caucasian players (in fact, many squads were All-German, save one or two European foreigners).
Yeboah had a slow first year, but then scored 17 goals in his second Saarbrücken year. He was then transferred to Eintracht Frankfurt. In the Hesse metropolis, Yeboah quickly established himself as a deadly striker, equally adept with his feet and his head. He was the top scorer in Bundesliga twice with Frankfurt, in 1993 and 1994, and paved the way for black African players like Jay Jay Okocha, Samuel Kuffour or Souleymane Sané. However, in 1995, he and fellow colleagues Maurizio Gaudino and Okocha clashed with trainer Jupp Heynckes and were sent away. The Frankfurt faithful see this as the worst moment in recent club history, as their three most talented and loved attackers were dumped for nearly nothing, starting a long downward spiral which ended in two relegations into the Second Bundesliga. When Heynckes visited Frankfurt as a trainer of Schalke, he was jeered at and abused verbally.
Yeboah joined Leeds from Eintracht Frankfurt for £3.4 million at the start of 1995. As well as his goal of the season against Wimbledon, a hat-trick versus AS Monaco in the UEFA Cup was one of the high points of his Leeds career.
Unfortunately injuries (several picked up while on international duty) restricted his game when he played and kept him out of the Leeds side on too many occasions. When George Graham took over as manager, there was a clash of personalities and Yeboah was sold to the dismay of most Leeds fans. He returned to Germany and was still playing and scoring for several years after he left Leeds.
Yeboah scored a total of 33 goals for Leeds United in 62 appearances, and is still revered as a cult hero for the Yorkshire club. He is famous in the United Kingdom for scoring many remarkable goals in a short period for Leeds United. His stunning volley against Liverpool, and his breathtaking goal versus Wimbledon in the season 1995/96 are still regarded as two of the greatest ever Premiership goals. The goal against Wimbledon was also given Goal of the Season 1995/96. While at Leeds United the speed of one of his shots was unofficially measured at 99 mph making his shots faster than Leeds legend Peter Lorimer.
Yeboah has scored 26 goals in 59 caps for Ghana.
In 2005, Tony Yeboah appeared at the Lucas Radebe testamonial with Leeds United and African players past and present.
