Stephen Appiah playing for Ghana |
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Stephen Leroy Appiah | ||
| Date of birth | December 24, 1980 | ||
| Place of birth | Achimota, Greater Accra, Ghana | ||
| Height | 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) | ||
| Playing position | Defensive midfielder / Central Midfielder | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Free agent | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1995–1997 | Hearts of Oak | 21 | (19) |
| 1997–2000 | Udinese | 43 | (3) |
| 2000–2003 | Parma | 49 | (2) |
| 2002–2003 | → Brescia (loan) | 32 | (7) |
| 2003–2005 | Juventus | 48 | (3) |
| 2005–2008 | Fenerbahçe | 64 | (11) |
| 2009–2010 | Bologna | 2 | (0) |
| 2010–2011 | Cesena | 14 | (0) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 1996–2010 | Ghana | 69 | (16) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 08 February 2007. † Appearances (Goals). |
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Stephen Leroy Appiah ( /ˈæpɪɑː/ api-ah) (born December 24, 1980) is a former Ghana International football midfielder and captain. He is currently a free agent. He has played for several European clubs since 1997 and is currently without a club. Appiah was a member of the Ghana national team, which he has represented at the youth, Olympic, and senior levels. He captained Ghana at their World Cup debut in 2006 and was a member of their squad for the 2010 World Cup. He was also the captain of the national team.
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A strong all-round box-to-box midfielder able to defend as well as create and score goals, Stephen Appiah began his career at local club Hearts of Oak in 1995, at 15 years of age. In 1996 he had trials with Galatasaray S.K.'s youth squad but was not signed and he returned to Hearts of Oak.
In 1997 he moved abroad to join Italian Serie A side Udinese. He spent three seasons with the club and while there changed from striker to midfield. A transfer to Parma in 1999 was jeopardised by viral hepatitis,[1] but Appiah overcame the illness to move there in the summer of 2000. After two seasons at Parma, Appiah went on loan to Brescia for the 2002-03 season. Appiah became a first-team regular for the Lombardians, and scored seven times in 31 games.
Appiah's success at Parma alerted defending Serie A champions Juventus to his talents. Juventus paid Parma €2m in the summer of 2003 to secure Appiah's services on loan, with an option to a permanent €6M transfer in 2004. In 2003, Appiah finished 8th for African Footballer of the Year.
He went on to enjoy a good first season for Juventus, playing in 30 Serie A games and appearing in the Coppa Italia final. He also made his debut in the UEFA Champions League. In his second season at Juventus, Appiah played in 18 Serie A games.
In July 2005, he was transferred from Juventus to Turkish giants Fenerbahçe for €8M.[2] He went on to win the Turkish Super League Championship with the club in their centenary year. In January 2007 he was injured during the international duty with the Black Stars and he delayed the operation on his left knee until end of season.[3]
At the end of the 2006–07 season, Appiah expressed a desire to leave and a German club made a offer of €4 million to Fenerbahçe, after Appiah's agent contacted other clubs without Fenerbahçe's permission.[3] Fenerbahçe rejected the offer.[3]
After an extended knee-injury layoff, Appiah came off the bench for Fenerbahçe in the Turkish Super League on 6 October 2007. However, the injury recurred after his last game on 1 December, and Appiah went to Italy for rehabilitation on 20 December 2007.[3] The long-term injury forced him to miss the 2008 African Cup of Nations as a player, instead, he became a special adviser of the team.[3] Fenerbahçe also wanted to de-register Appiah as he occupied a foreigner quota, but he refused as he was unclear with the matter.[3] Appiah also refused to take rehabilitation in Turkey.[3] The club also thought that Appiah was actually AWOL and Appiah thought the club exposed his medical history to the press and mistreatment to his injury, although the club defended that it had made an appointment for Appiah to visit Mayo Clinic, United States, but Appiah did not attend.[3] On 1 February 2008, Appiah formally submitted a claim of mistreatment by asking to leave as free agent on 1 July 2008 and received the pre-agreed 2008–09 season salary of €2 million.[3] In response, Fenerbahçe notified FIFA. In April 2008 the case went to FIFA Dispute Resolution Chamber (DRC), and both parties sued each other.[3] He unilaterally terminated the contract at the end of season, as he thought the club had breached the contract by not fulfilling its duties.[4][5] He also discussed with West Ham United in summer 2008 for a possible contract.[6] DRC ordered Appiah to pay Fenerbahçe €2,281,915 as he breached the contract without just cause on 9 January 2009.[3] He immediately appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in May after received the decision on 5 May 2009 and the club also submitted its appeal. On 7 June 2010 CAS ruled that Appiah did not needed to pay Fenerbahçe, as Fenerbahçe saved more in wages (€2,633,020.65) than losses (€2,496,278.85).[3]
Appiah was on trial with London based football team Tottenham in January 2009 with a view to a 6-month permanent contract,[7] however concerns over his knee and fitness resulted in no contract being offered, as Spurs took up the option of signing Wilson Palacios from Wigan instead. The following month Appiah underwent a trial at FC Rubin Kazan, but the Russian champions decided against signing the player because of the same fitness concerns. Despite being without a club since his departure from Fenerbahçe in June 2008, Appiah remained a regular with the national team throughout the 2008–09 season.
On 1 November, 2009 Bologna announced the signing of Appiah on a free transfer, On 7 August 2010, Appiah signed for newly-promoted Italian Serie A side Cesena on a one-year deal with the option of another year if the club stays in the top flight. At the end of the 2010/2011 season his contract expires with Cesena and remains untied.[8]
On 7 December 2011, the Daily Mail reported that Appiah was on the verge of joining Blackburn Rovers on a one-year deal after a successful trial.
'Appiah impressed and was told by Blackburn boss Steve Kean that he has to work on his fitness level,' his spokesperson told GHANAsoccernet.com
According to reports, Appiah has returned home to Ghana to bury his father, who passed away last month, before completing the move.[9]
Appiah has appeared with the Ghana National Team at the 1995 FIFA U-17 World Championship, the 1997 and 1999 World Youth Championships, the 2004 Olympic tournament, and the 2006 FIFA World Cup where the team reached the second round. During Ghana's third game of the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Appiah powered in a penalty kick against the United States to send the Black Stars to the second round.[10] Appiah was also included in Ghana's squad for the World Cup in South Africa. In Ghana's first game at the 2010 FIFA World Cup,[11] Appiah came on as a substitute to help the squad to a 1-0 victory over Serbia; thus helping the Black Stars go top of their group.[12] He did not play in the next 2 group stage games against Australia and Germany. He played again on June 26 against United States in the round of 16, which Ghana won 2-1 after extra time. After the World Cup, he announced his retirement from The Black Stars of Ghana.
Appiah has designed a clothing line named StepApp that was released in late November in his hometown of Accra. All proceeds go to the StepApp foundation.[13] The clothing line will initially be released in Africa before arriving in Europe and the United States in the following months.
| Club performance | League | Cup | Continental | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Club | League | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Italy | League | Coppa Italia | Europe | Total | ||||||
| 1997/98 | Udinese | Serie A | 11 | 0 | ||||||
| 1998/99 | 21 | 0 | ||||||||
| 1999/00 | 4 | 0 | ||||||||
| 2000/01 | Parma | Serie A | 16 | 0 | ||||||
| 2001/02 | 13 | 0 | ||||||||
| 2002/03 | Brescia | Serie A | 31 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 31 | 7 |
| 2003/04 | Juventus | Serie A | 30 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 37 | 1 |
| 2004/05 | 18 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 21 | 2 | ||
| Turkey | League | Fortis Turkey Cup | Europe | Total | ||||||
| 2005/06 | Fenerbahçe | Süper Lig | 32 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 40 | 11 |
| 2006/07 | 26 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 3 | 36 | 6 | ||
| 2007/08 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 0 | ||
| Italy | League | Coppa Italia | Europe | Total | ||||||
| 2009/10 | Bologna | Serie A | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 2010/11 | Cesena | Serie A | 14 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 0 |
| Country | Italy | 146 | 10 | |||||||
| Turkey | 64 | 11 | ||||||||
| Total | 210 | 21 | ||||||||
| Ghana national team | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Apps | Goals |
| 1995 | 1 | 0 |
| 1996 | 0 | 0 |
| 1997 | 0 | 0 |
| 1998 | 2 | 0 |
| 1999 | 1 | 0 |
| 2000 | 5 | 1 |
| 2001 | 5 | 2 |
| 2002 | 2 | 0 |
| 2003 | 5 | 3 |
| 2004 | 5 | 2 |
| 2005 | 7 | 1 |
| 2006 | 16 | 2 |
| 2007 | 3 | 1 |
| 2008 | 3 | 1 |
| 2009 | 7 | 1 |
| 2010 | ||
| Total | 69 | 16 |
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