Samuel Kuffour facts for kids
Kuffour in 2010
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 3 September 1976 | ||
| Place of birth | Kumasi, Ghana | ||
| Height | 1.78 m | ||
| Playing position | Centre-back | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Fantomas Kumasi | |||
| 1990–1991 | King Faisal Babes | ||
| 1991–1993 | Torino | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1993–2005 | Bayern Munich | 175 | (7) |
| 1995–1996 | → 1. FC Nürnberg (loan) | 12 | (1) |
| 2005–2008 | Roma | 21 | (0) |
| 2006–2007 | → Livorno (loan) | 18 | (0) |
| 2008 | → Ajax (loan) | 2 | (0) |
| 2009 | Asante Kotoko | ||
| Total | 228 | (8) | |
| National team | |||
| 1993–2006 | Ghana | 54 | (3) |
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| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Men's association football | ||
Representing  Ghana |
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| Olympic Games | ||
| Bronze | 1992 Barcelona | Team competition |
Samuel Osei Kuffour (born on 3 September 1976) is a former professional footballer from Ghana. He played as a centre-back, which is a defensive position.
Kuffour is most famous for his time with Bayern Munich. He played for them for over ten years. During this time, he won 14 trophies and played almost 250 games.
He also played for the Ghana national team in the 2006 World Cup. He also appeared in five Africa Cup of Nations tournaments.
Contents
Club Career Highlights
Playing for Bayern Munich
Samuel Kuffour was born in Ghana. When he was just 15 years old, he moved to Europe. He joined Torino FC in Italy in 1991. Before that, he played for local teams in his home country. In 1993, he moved from the Italian club to Bayern Munich.
After playing for 1. FC Nürnberg for a season on loan, he became a key player for Bayern. Kuffour spent 11 seasons with Bayern. He started in the youth teams and became an important first-team player. He helped the club win the UEFA Champions League.
He was a very important player when they won the Champions League in 2001. He also scored the winning goal in the 2001 Intercontinental Cup. For that game, he was named the best player. In 1999 and 2001, he came in second for the African Footballer of the Year award.
Kuffour was also part of the Bayern team that lost to Manchester United in the 1999 UEFA Champions League Final. Bayern lost after two late goals. Kuffour showed his frustration, which made fans like him even more. He also became the youngest defender to score in the Champions League. He was only 18 years and 61 days old when he scored against Spartak Moscow in 1994. That game ended in a 2–2 draw.
Kuffour played over 60 Champions League games. This makes him one of the most successful African players ever. After 12 seasons in Munich and 175 games in the Bundesliga, Kuffour left Bayern in 2005.
Time with AS Roma
In the summer of 2005, Kuffour left Bayern. He joined AS Roma in Italy for free on a three-year contract. He played 21 games in his first season. This was even though he was away playing for his country for some time. In his second year, he was loaned to AS Livorno Calcio. Livorno was another team in the Serie A and also played in the UEFA Cup. He played his last European club game for Livorno, which was his 89th such match.
Later Club Moves
In August 2007, Kuffour tried out for Premier League team Sunderland. However, the manager, Roy Keane, said he would not be joining.
On 28 January 2008, AFC Ajax in the Netherlands loaned Kuffour for six months. There was a chance for him to stay longer. But he left because he wasn't playing well. Roma's manager, Luciano Spalletti, also decided he was not needed anymore. So, Kuffour became a player without a club.
In August, people thought Kuffour had joined FC Khimki in Russia. But on 10 September, his agent said he had stopped playing professional football. Kuffour said this was not true and he wanted to keep playing. In January 2009, he was linked to Major League Soccer team Chicago Fire S.C. in the US.
Asante Kotoko and Retirement
In April 2009, Kuffour finally went back to Ghana after 19 years. He signed a three-month deal with Asante Kotoko. However, he stopped playing football in late 2009 without playing an official game for the club.
International Career
Samuel Kuffour played for the Ghana for 13 years. He played his first game for Ghana when he was 17 years old. This was against Sierra Leone on 28 November 1993. Before that, he had played for all the national youth teams. He became the captain of the main team when he was 23.
Kuffour started playing for his country at a very young age. When he was a junior player, he helped Ghana win the 1991 FIFA U-17 World Championship in Italy. He was also part of the team that came second to Nigeria in the 1993 FIFA U-17 World Championship in Japan. As a youth player, he was on the team that finished second to Brazil in the 1993 FIFA World Youth Championship in Australia.
Kuffour became the youngest Olympic Football medalist ever. He won a bronze medal at the 1992 Olympics just before his 16th birthday. He was also on the team that reached the quarter-finals at the 1996 Olympics.
Kuffour played one game for Ghana in the 2006 FIFA World Cup. This was against Italy. After a mistake in that first game, which Ghana lost 0–2, he did not play in the next three games. Ghana was knocked out in the round of 16 by Brazil.
On 12 January 2007, the Confederation of African Football chose Kuffour as one of the Top 30 African Players of All Time.
Life After Football
Sports Commentator
After he stopped playing football in 2010, Kuffour became a sports commentator. He mainly worked for SuperSports, a channel based in South Africa. He started by covering the 2010 FIFA World Cup. In 2015, he had his head shaved live on TV. He had promised to do this if the Black Stars did not win the AFCON 2015, which he had predicted they would win. In 2018, he took a break from commenting for the 2018 FIFA World Cup because his doctor advised him to, due to too much traveling.
Football Management
In August 2013, Kuffour was made a board member of the Ghanaian football club Kumasi Asante Kotoko. On 2 October 2014, while he was a board member, he was announced as the new CEO for Kumasi Asante Kotoko. The club owner, Otumfuo Nana Osei Tutu II, had appointed him. However, by 15 October, it seemed that this early announcement caused the owner to change his mind.
In February 2016, Kuffour was named a member of the Black Starlets. This is the Ghana national under-17 football team, which he had played for in the 1990s. On 16 January 2020, he was appointed as a member of the management board of the Black Stars. This is the senior national team of Ghana.
Honours and Awards
Samuel Kuffour won many trophies and awards during his career:
- Bayern Munich
- Bundesliga: 1996–97, 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2000–01, 2002–03, 2004–05 (6 times)
- DFB-Pokal: 1997–98, 1999–2000, 2002–03, 2004–05 (4 times)
- DFB-Ligapokal: 2000, 2004 (2 times)
- UEFA Champions League: 2000–01
- Intercontinental Cup: 2001
- Ghana Youth Teams
- FIFA U-17 World Championship: 1991
- Summer Olympic Games: Bronze medal in 1992
Individual Awards
- CAF Top 30 Best African Players of All Time
- Ghana Player of the Year: 1998, 1999, 2001
- Intercontinental Cup Most Valuable Player of the Match Award: 2001
- BBC African Footballer of the Year: 2001
- Africa Cup of Nations: Team of All Tournaments
- IFFHS All-time Africa Men's Dream Team: 2021
Images for kids
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Kuffour in 2010
See also
In Spanish: Samuel Kuffour para niños
