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Sammy Kuffour |
| Samuel Kuffour | ||
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| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Samuel Osei Kuffour | |
| Date of birth | September 3, 1976 | |
| Place of birth | Kumasi, Ghana | |
| Height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) | |
| Playing position | Defender | |
| Club information | ||
| Current club | Retired | |
| Youth clubs | ||
| 1990–1991 1991–1993 |
King Faisal Babes Torino |
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| Senior clubs1 | ||
| Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
| 1993–2005 1995–1996 2005–2008 2006–2007 2008 |
Bayern Munich →FC Nürnberg (loan) AS Roma →Livorno Calcio (loan) →Ajax (loan) |
175 (7) 12 (1) 21 (0) 18 (0) 2 (0) |
| National team | ||
| 1993–2006 | Ghana | 59 (3) |
|
1 Senior club appearances and goals |
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Samuel Osei Kuffour (born September 3, 1976 in Kumasi) is a former Ghanaian football defender. Known for his great physical power, he played during a decade for Bayern Munich.
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Kuffour was brought to Europe by Torino F.C. in 1991 aged just 15, after playing junior football for local teams in his native country. He joined FC Bayern Munich in 1993 from the Italian club in 1993. After a loan spell with 1. FC Nuremberg in 1995–96 he made his breakthrough at Bayern.
Kuffour spent 11 seasons with Bayern, raising from the youth teams to be a prominent first-squad member who lifted the UEFA Champions League with the club. He was an integral part of the Bayern squad that won the 2000-01 Champions League, also scoring the winning goal in the 2001 Intercontinental Cup, being subsequently named man of the match.1Also in that year, he finished second in African Footballer of the Year's voting, repeating the feat accomplished in 1999.2
Kuffour was also part of the Bayern team which lost to Manchester United due to two late goals in the 1999 UEFA Champions League Final. He famously beat the ground in frustration afterwards, a gesture that endeared him to Bayern supporters. He is the youngest defender of all-time to score in the UEFA Champions League at the age of 18 years, 61 days during the match against FC Spartak Moscow on November 2, 1994 which ended in a 2-2 draw.3Kuffour made over 60 UEFA Champions League appearances, the most by any African player ever,citation neededand is one of the most decorated African players of all time.
After eleven seasons in Munich and 175 Bundesliga appearances, Kuffour left Bayern in the summer of 2005 and signed a 3-year-deal with A.S. Roma in a free transfer, thus returning to Italy.4He made 21 appearances in 2005–06, having spent a period of the season away on international duty and, in his second year, was loaned to UEFA Cup competitor and fellow Serie A team Livorno Calcio.
On August 2007, Kuffour had an unsuccessful trial with Premier League side Sunderland, with a view to a permanent move. However, manager Roy Keane confirmed he would not be joining the club in a post match interview after Sunderland's defeat to Liverpool.5
On January 28, 2008, Ajax Amsterdam received Kuffour on a 6-month loan contract, with an option for two more seasons. He was released following a lack of form, and was also deemed surplus to requirements by Roma boss Luciano Spalletti, thus becoming a free agent. In August, it was thought that Kuffour had joined Russian Premier League side FC Khimki. However, it was announced on September 10, by his agent, that he had retired from professional football with immediate effect.6
A Ghana international for 13 years, Kuffour won his first cap as a 17-year old, when Ghana played Sierra Leone on November 28, 1993. He had previously been part of every Ghanaian national team: junior, youth and olympic level. He was made captain of the team aged 23.
Kuffour burst onto the international scene as a 13-year old defender. At junior level, he was a member of the victorious Ghana side that won the 1991 FIFA U-17 World Championship in Italy and the team that was runner-up to Nigeria in the 1993 FIFA U-17 World Championship in Japan. At youth level, he was part of the Ghana Youth team that was runner-up to Brazil during the 1993 FIFA World Youth Championship in Australia. Olympicwise, Kuffour became the youngest Olympic Football Champion of all-time, when he pocketed bronze at the 1992 Olympics with Ghana just before his 16th birthday. He was also a member of the Ghana team that made the quarterfinal at the same level in 1996.
Kuffour also made one appearance for his country at the 2006 FIFA World Cup finals, against Italy. After a costly mistake in that first match, a 2-0, he was dropped for the next three matches, as Ghana bowed out in the round-of-16 match against Brazil.
On January 12, 2007, the Confederation of African Football voted Kuffour as a member of the Top 30 African Players of All-Time.
In 2003, Kuffour revealed to the BBC, in an interview for the 'Heart and Soul' documentary,7that he wanted to be a priest or a missionary when he retired from football. In the interview, he also spoke about the surprised reaction of some German players as he prayed before games, while also addressing the support he received from fellow Ghanaian Christians, especially those living in Munich.
In the same interview, Kuffour also talked movingly about the death of his daughter, Godiva, in a drowning accident in January that year. He explained that his Christian faith gave him the courage to face the future.
| Olympic medal record | |||
Competitor for  Ghana |
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|---|---|---|---|
| Men's Football | |||
| Bronze | 1992 Barcelona | Team Competition | |
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| Awards | ||
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Preceded by Patrick Mboma |
BBC African Footballer of the Year 2001 |
Succeeded by El Hadji Diouf |
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