People often let brilliant players slip their mind once their careers are over. One such star was Anthony Yeboah, who stamped his authority on European football alongside South Africa's Lucas Radebe.
During a time in which African footballers were still on their rise to prominence on the global stage, Yeboah accelerated that progression by simply expressing his wonderful self on the football pitch, showing the world what Africa had to offer.
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Fortunately, for those who were unable to watch him in action during his prime, the archives of his great goals that were recorded can be found, and through those recordings, his powerful, yet elegant style of playing the game can be observed and appreciated.
What they show is a striker who was well ahead of his time, a striker who could do everything from collecting the ball in a deeper area and then dribbling past defenders to frightening centre-backs with his ability to run in behind and beat a goalkeeper when the one-on-one situations arose.
Not only that, the third-all-time highest goalscorer for Ghana was an absolute menace to opposition from long range, and boasted strength that could hold off defenders along with a strong aerial presence that made him a nightmare for those in the opposition box as soon as a ball was floated in for him to latch on to. The tools he possessed made him a threat from anywhere on the field, forcing adversaries to be vigilant of his whereabouts at all times. It seemed as though no matter how hard they tried, he just could not be detained.
Yeboah began his professional career in his home country, representing Cornerstone FC and Okwawu United, before moving to German club Saarbrucken, where he first started to capture the imaginations of those in Europe. He scored 31 goals in 72 appearances there, according to Transfermarkt, and that earned him a move to Bundesliga side Eintracht Frankfurt, where his career would really begin to take off. During his time at the Eagles, he showed off his class and netted 89 times while also assisting on 29 occasions in 156 appearances. He was the Bundesliga's top scorer on two occasions: at the end of the 1992/23 season and in the following 1993/94 campaign.
His stint in Germany caught the attention of those in England. He joined fellow African footballer Radebe at Leeds United in 1995, a spell he is arguably remembered most fondly for. The former Ghana international stole the hearts of the Peacocks faithful who were in attendance when Yeboah smashed a volley from outside of the box, on his weaker right foot, to hand Leeds a 1-0 victory over Liverpool in the 1995/96 Premier League season.
While he may be remembered for that goal, it is important to understand that he was quite far from a one-hit wonder. The Ghanaian has a collection of goals that would leave the jaws of spectators hanging open, while being swaddled in awe of his ability. It was his tendency to do unthinkable things on the football pitch that won him a Ballon d'Or nomination, receiving five votes in 1995.
His escapades across the globe allowed him to make a name for himself, with even Wayne Rooney having pretended to be the Ghanaian at one point during his childhood, according to The Sun. He was also one of the players who paved the way for fellow African footballers who were still trying to make their way on to the biggest stages of the beautiful game.
"I know I was always standing for my people," Yeboah said in an interview with Sky Sports.
"Now we have a lot of black people from lots of different countries playing in Germany and for the national team. It means that we fought for them.
"We Africans, years ago, our great, great, great, great grandparents fought for us so we can enjoy life now. The same happened in football, we were always fighting for our youth, and it has worked.
"We are very proud of ourselves, in the beginning it was difficult but now they are there enjoying their football."
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