Abedi Pele Ayew Detailed Biography

Abédi Ayew Pelé (born November 5, 1962) is a former Ghanaian football player. He was named African Footballer of the Year in 1991, 1992 and 1993. Also, Pelé named him as one of the top 125 greatest living footballers in March 2004. He was the captain of Ghana's national soccer team for 6 years (1992-1998) and was one of the first African soccer players to place highly in FIFA world player of the year lists in 1991 and 1992. He is arguably Africa's most decorated and honored soccer player ever; winning the France Football Magazine African player of the year 3 times, the BBC version of the award 3 times, and the Confederation of African football version twice. He was also awarded the golden boot award for being the best player at the 1992 African nations cup, and was the "man of the match" in Olympiques Marseilles historic european champions league final win over AC Milan in 1993. Abédi Pelé played 67 times for Ghana and is considered possibly the greatest football player in his country's history, and among the best in Africa. He never had an opportunity to play in the World Cup, as Ghana failed to qualify for the competition during his career. However he was arguably the most dominant figure on the African soccer scene for nearly a decade. His performance in the African nations Cup of 1992 is often cited as one of the most outstanding soccer displays by any player in a single tournament. His native Ghana reached the finals of the cup that year, only to lose on penalties in the final to Ivory Coast after Abedi was suspended in a previous match. He was also amongst the first african players to gain prominence in the european soccer leagues, and was very instrumental in Olympique Marseilles prominence in the european champions league during the early 1990's. Amongst Abedi Pele's international accolades; he was often included in FIFA "All-star" selections and captained the African all-stars in their victory over their european counterparts in the Meridien cup of 1997. Abedi was a member of Ghana's victorious African nations cup team in 1982, and featured prominently in 4 subsequent tournaments. On club level, he was a key figure in Olympique Marseilles dominance of the French league - resulting in 4 league championships and 2 european champions league finals appearances. An attacking midfielder, Abedi became as famous for his sublimely gifted dribbling skills as well as a talent for scoring spectacular and often very important goals. Many such goals became regular "goals of the week" on ITN's weekly "European Football" program. He scored a total of roughly 33 goals in his 67 caps for Ghana, and is believed to be the top goal scorer in Ghana's 50 year footballing history.