Quincy Owusu-Abeyie

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Quincy
Personal information
Full name Quincy James Owusu-Abeyie
Date of birth April 15, 1986 (1986-04-15) (age 22)
Place of birth    Amsterdam, Netherlands
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Playing position Striker
Left Winger
Club information
Current club Celta de Vigo
Number 25
Youth clubs
2001-2002 Ajax Amsterdam
Senior clubs1
Years Club App (Gls)*
2002–2006
2006–2007
2007		 Arsenal
Spartak Moscow
→ Celta Vigo (loan)		 05 (1)
21 (1)
13 (2)   
National team2
 ?–2006
2007–		 Netherlands U-21
Ghana		 08 (3)
08 (1)

1 Senior club appearances and goals
counted for the domestic league only and
correct as of June 28, 2007.
2 National team caps and goals correct
as of 12 June, 2008.
* Appearances (Goals)

Quincy James Owusu-Abeyie (born April 15, 1986 in Amsterdam, Netherlands), known occasionally simply by his first name "Quincy", is a Ghanaian-Dutch footballer who plays as a forward for Celta de Vigo on loan from Spartak Moscow. Owusu-Abeyie played for Dutch national youth teams, but in 2007, he requested to become eligible to represent Ghana instead.[1] FIFA approved his request on January 10, 2008,[2] just ahead of the 2008 African Cup of Nations.[3]

Contents

[edit] Club career

Born in Amsterdam to Ghanaian parents,[4] Quincy was a Dutch youth international footballer from 14. He had been a member of hometown Club Ajax's youth system for nine years before he was signed by Arsenal in September 2002. He was handed a long-term contract on July 1, 2003 and agreed to a new improved three-year contract on 1 July 2005.[5] During his time in Arsenal's youth setup, Owusu-Abeyie once scored six goals for Arsenal's U-17 side in a 7-1 victory against Wolverhampton Wanderers.

His debut first-team appearance was in a League Cup match against Rotherham United on October 28, 2003 in which Arsenal drew 1-1. His first goal was scored in the same competition on November 9, 2004 against Everton. He also made his UEFA Champions League bow in the Gunners' 5-1 demolition of Norwegian Champions Rosenborg on 7 December 2004 when he was 18 years old.

His performances in an Arsenal shirt were inconsistent, despite an impressive performance against Reading[6] and scoring against Doncaster Rovers [7] in the Gunners' 2005-06 Carling Cup run. After Arsenal boosted their forward line in the January 2006 transfer window, by signing Togo's Emmanuel Adebayor and rising star Theo Walcott, he signed for Russian club Spartak Moscow for around £1.45m on 31 January 2006.[8]

On 28 June 2007, it was reported in the Dutch media that English Premier League Club Birmingham City had expressed interest in Quincy and wanted to bring him back to play in England.[9][10] On the final day of the summer 2007 transfer window, however, Quincy joined Spanish side Celta de Vigo on loan.[11]

[edit] International career

[edit] Netherlands youth teams

Owusu-Abeyie appeared at the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship for the Netherlands national under-21 football team, the Jong Orange in the summer of 2005. In the first game against Japan he set up Ryan Babel for a close range goal.[12] Though the Netherlands crashed out of the tournament in the quarter-finals after a penalty shoot-out against Nigeria,[13] Described by FIFA.com as "a bit special... full of Power, pace and bags of sumptuous skill", Quincy was profiled as one of the Best Players of that FIFA U20 Championship.[14]

Quincy was a member of the Netherlands' junior sides since he was 15, progressing through all the way to the U21 side. He played his last game for them on 14 November 2006 in a 0-1 international friendly home loss to England Under-21's in Alkmaar.

[edit] Switch to Ghana

On Friday 5 January 2007, Quincy went to Ghana to meet with Ghana Football Association (GFA) officials[15] and engage them in talks over the role he could play to help Ghanaian football, and discussed switching his allegiance to play for Ghana.

The first attempt by the GFA to convince him to feature for the Black Stars at the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany hit a snag, following the player’s earlier appearances with the Netherlands' U21 side at the 2005 World Youth Championship.

On Wednesday 24 January 2007, the Dutch youth international decided to pledged his senior international future to Ghana.[16] Ghana coach Claude Le Roy named him in the Ghana squad for their 6 February 2007 friendly International match against Nigeria.[17]

However, FIFA was yet to approve Owusu-Abeyie's request for a switch of nationality, and in the end Quincy did not make his International debut for Ghana as expected, because he was not released by Spartak Moscow; Ghana's national coach made clear he would complain to FIFA as a result[18] Although called up for Ghana's match against Austria in March 2007, Quincy did not play but did declare that he would be playing for Ghana in the future.[19]

On 18 December 2007, Quincy was called up by Ghana as part of the 40-man squad[20] for their 2-week training camp in Dubai ahead of the 2008 African Cup of Nations.[21] He later told Spanish media that he was very happy to receive the callup.[22]

On January 10, 2008, just ahead of the 2008 African Cup of Nations, FIFA approved Quincy's request to switch to Ghana.[3][23] Chelsea FC midfielder Michael Essien was the first to congratulate the Dutch-born forward. Other players followed by pouring bottles and buckets of water on Quincy to officially welcome him into the team admist wild cheers from team officials.[24][25]

Quincy was selected for Ghana's 2008 African Cup of Nations squad[26] and was in the team that defeated Nigeria[27] on February 3, 2008, advancing to the semi-finals. He scored his first international goal in the third place match of the 2008 African Cup of Nations, where Ghana defeated Ivory Coast 4-2

[edit] Personal life

Owusu-Abeyie was arrested after up to five men began brawling in a London café, Café Royal following the Professional Footballers' Association Player Awards at 3am on 25 April 2005. Officers were called at about 03:00 BST where they found a man with serious head injuries. However, the police did not press any charges against Owusu-Abeyie and cleared him of any involvement in the incident.[28] He is the cousin of English rapper Sway DaSafo.

[edit] References

  1. ^ "'Quincy Owusu verkiest Ghana boven Oranje'", vi.nl, 2007-01-25. Retrieved on 2007-01-25. 
  2. ^ "FIFA approves Quincy's switch", Ghana FA, 2008-01-10. Retrieved on 2008-01-10. 
  3. ^ a b "Ghana mag Quincy selecteren", De Telegraaf, 2008-01-10. Retrieved on 2008-01-10. 
  4. ^ "Football without borders in the Lowlands", FIFA, 2005-06-30. Retrieved on 2005-06-30. 
  5. ^ "Owusu-Abeyie signs Arsenal deal", BBC, 2005-07-01. Retrieved on 2005-07-01. 
  6. ^ ESPNsoccernet - Carling Cup - Arsenal v Reading Report
  7. ^ "Arsenal see off minnows Doncaster", CNN, 2005-12-21. Retrieved on 2005-12-21. 
  8. ^ "Moscow move for Arsenal youngster", BBC, 2006-01-31. Retrieved on 2006-01-31. 
  9. ^ "Quincy kan naar Birmingham City", voetbalprimeur.nl, 2007-06-28. Retrieved on 2007-06-28. 
  10. ^ "Birmingham wil Owusu naar Engeland halen", voetbalkrant.com, 2007-06-28. Retrieved on 2007-06-28. 
  11. ^ "Owusu-Abeyie joins Celta Vigo", BBC, 2007-09-02. Retrieved on 2007-09-02. 
  12. ^ "Dutch overcome late nerves to sink Japan", FIFA.com, 2005-06-10. Retrieved on 2005-06-10. 
  13. ^ "Young Oranje go out with a bang", FIFA.com, 2005-06-27. Retrieved on 2005-06-27. 
  14. ^ "Fourteen nuggets in Netherlands", FIFA.com, 2005-06-19. Retrieved on 2005-06-19. 
  15. ^ "Owusu-Abeyie to play for Ghana?", Ghanaweb, 2007-01-05. Retrieved on 2007-01-05. 
  16. ^ "Owusu-Abeyie opts for Ghana", BBC, 2007-01-24. Retrieved on 2007-01-24. 
  17. ^ "Owusu Abeyie kiest voor Ghana", voetbalzone.nl, 2007-01-25. Retrieved on 2007-01-25. 
  18. ^ Football Results | Football Scores | News - Yahoo! Eurosport UK
  19. ^ "Quincy koos definitief voor Ghana", voetbalkrant.com, 2007-04-05. Retrieved on 2007-04-05. 
  20. ^ "Owusu-Abeyie called up for Ghana", BBC Sports, 2007-12-18. Retrieved on 2007-12-18. 
  21. ^ "Le Roy calls up 40 players", Ghanafa.org, 2007-12-18. Retrieved on 2007-12-18. 
  22. ^ "Quincy puede causar baja un mes si va a la Copa África con Ghana", Faro de Vigo, 2007-12-18. Retrieved on 2007-12-18. 
  23. ^ "Owusu-Abeyie can play for Ghana", BBC Sports, 2008-01-10. Retrieved on 2008-01-10. 
  24. ^ "Ghana players jubilate Abeyie clearance", Ghanasoccernet, 2008-01-10. Retrieved on 2008-01-10. 
  25. ^ "Quincy switch excites Ghana camp", Ghana FA, 2008-01-10. Retrieved on 2008-01-10. 
  26. ^ "Black Stars Squad announced", Ghanafa.org, 2008-01-11. Retrieved on 2008-01-11. 
  27. ^ "Ghana 2-1 Nigeria", ESPNsoccernet, 2008-02-03. Retrieved on 2008-02-03. 
  28. ^ "Arsenal player in 'awards brawl'", BBC, 2005-04-25. Retrieved on 2005-04-25. 

[edit] External links

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Celta de Vigo – current squad

1 Esteban • 2 Peña • 3 G. Lucas • 4 Vitolo • 5 Lequi • 7 Núñez • 8 Jorge • 10 Canobbio • 11 Okkas • 12 Agus • 13 Luis • 14 J. Perera • 15 Fdo. Sales • 17 Diego • 18 Guayre • 19 Mario • 20 Rosada • 21 J. Vara • 22 Lago • 23 Rubén • 24 Jonathan Vila • 25 Quincy • 26 Álvarez • 29 Dani Abalo • Manager: López Caro