Tony Yeboah
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Anthony Yeboah | ||
| Date of birth | 6 June 1966 | ||
| Place of birth | Kumasi, Ashanti, Ghana | ||
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) | ||
| Playing position | Striker | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1981–1983 | Asante Kotoko | ||
| 1983–1985 | Cornerstones Kumasi | ||
| 1986–1987 | Okwawu United | 35 | (35) |
| 1988–1990 | 1. FC Saarbrücken | 65 | (26) |
| 1990–1995 | Eintracht Frankfurt | 123 | (68) |
| 1995–1997 | Leeds United | 47 | (24) |
| 1997–2001 | Hamburger SV | 100 | (28) |
| 2001–2002 | Al-Ittihad | 22 | (5) |
| Total | 411 | (194) | |
| National team | |||
| 1985–1997 | Ghana | 59 | (29) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. |
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Anthony Yeboah (born 6 June 1966 in Kumasi, Ghana) is a Ghanaian former professional footballer who played as a striker from 1981 to 2002.
He is considered one of the most prominent and prolific goal scorers in Ghanaian and African football history and gained a reputation for scoring spectacular goals which often featured in Goal of the Month or Goal of the Season competitions, often celebrated by wagging his index finger towards the crowd.
Yeboah is most noted for his time at European clubs 1. FC Saarbrücken, Eintracht Frankfurt, Leeds United and Hamburger SV during the 1990s. He also played for Asante Kotoko, Cornerstones Kumasi, Okwawu United and Al-Ittihad Doha. He was capped 59 times by Ghana, scoring 29 goals. He now runs an international sports agency and a chain of hotels in Ghana.
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 one of the first black players to appear in the Bundesliga. This was a time where the Bundesliga was dominated by white players (in fact, many squads were all-German, except for one or two European foreigners).
Yeboah had a slow first year, but then scored 17 league goals in his second Saarbrücken year. He was then transferred to Eintracht Frankfurt where he was at first booed by a section of fans and—being the first black player the team had ever signed—subjected to monkey-noises and other racist insults. In the Hesse metropolis, Yeboah quickly established himself as a deadly striker, silencing all critics. Equally adept with feet and head, his joyfully executed direct style of play mesmerised the fans to the point that soon, the Zeugen Yeboahs (Yeboah's Witnesses) was formed and became an overnight cult success. Yeboah was the Superstar-next-door for the people of Frankfurt and Rhein-Main area. His popularity helped pave a great deal of the way towards true racial integration in the region, such was his profound influence on the fans and citizens, who had not all been sympathetic towards Africans until then. He was the top Bundesliga scorer twice with Frankfurt, in 1993 and 1994. By then, the Bundesliga and the German people were ready to welcome other African players like Jay-Jay Okocha, Samuel Kuffour and Souleyman Sané to play in the Bundesliga. He and colleagues Maurizio Gaudino and Okocha clashed with manager Jupp Heynckes in 1995, which led to their departure from the club.
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