Ghana has produced a lot of top strikers and many names come to mind when discussing the exploits of Ghanaian attackers in the World.
Kwasi Owusu, Opoku Afriyie, Opoku Nti, Joseph Lamptey, George Alhassan, Matthew Amoah, CK Akonnor, Junior Agogo, Asamoah Gyan, and others are some of the top strikers Ghana have given to the game but there is one that stands tall amongst the aforementioned names in Europe.
To Eintracht Frankfurt and Leeds United fans, there is no Ghanaian or African striker who was a better goal-scorer than Anthony Yeboah who dominated the Bundesliga and in his short stint in the English Premier League.
Anthony Yeboah is still the only Ghanaian striker who won a top scorer’s award in a major league in Europe since the inception of the game.
His inability to win a trophy with the Black Stars for Ghana is dent on his career but his achievement in the top five leagues in Europe.
Born in the Ashanti Regional capital Kumasi on June 6, 1966, Yeboah begun his professional career with Asante Kotoko in 1981 but didn’t make any official appearance for the club.
From Asante Kotoko, he joined Kumasi Cornerstone in 1983 but “exploded” and caught the attention of the foreign scouts during his time with Okwahu United.
In the 1986-1987 season, Anthony Yeboah nicknamed “Yegola” scored 35 goals in 35 appearances in the Ghana Premier League for Okwahu United according to available data.
He left the Ghana Premier League with both Asante Kotoko and Accra Hearts of Oak wanting to sign him to join FC Saarbrücken in 1988 before joining giants Eintracht Frankfurt in 1990.
Before leaving to join Eintracht Frankfurt, Anthony Yeboah scored 26 goals in 65 appearances for FC Saarbrücken and that made him a hot cake in the Bundesliga at the age of 24.
At Frankfurt, he became the first African player to have played for the Eagles and he left the club as a legend and a Bundesliga hall of famer.
In both 199293 and 199394 league seasons, the former Black Stars striker ended the Bundesliga campaign as the top scorer.
He went to England to prove his worth in the Premier League with Leeds United in the 1994/1995 season and he excelled at Elland Road.
Before Jordan Ayew’s 25th goal in the Premier League after the 2021/2022 season, Anthony Yeboah was the highest-scoring Ghanaian in England with 24 goals.
At the end of his illustrious career, Anthony Yeboah scored 146 goals in the Bundesliga and the Premier League while playing for FC Saarbrücken, Eintracht Frankfurt, Leeds United, and Hamburger SV to become the highest-scoring Ghanaian in Europe.
In the Black Stars, the story wasn’t different from his club career as he bagged 29 goals in 59 appearances while winning the silver medal at the 1992 Africa Cup of Nations in Senegal.
Source: Ghanaweb