Soccer Soccer – Africa Cup of Nations – Group C – Gabon – Ghana – Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo, Yaounde, Cameroon – January 14, 2022 Ghana’s Andre Ayew celebrates his first goal REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany/File Photo Acquisition of licensing rights
Nov 5 (Reuters) – Ghana captain Andre Ayew is heading into a remarkable 10th major tournament and has won record caps for his country, but still lives in his father’s shadow.
A career that began as a teenage prodigy, taking in places at Olympique Marseille, Swansea City, West Ham United and Fenerbahce, and first playing international football 15 years ago, has set new standards for Ghanaian football.
But Ayew, and younger brother Jordan who plays for Crystal Palace, continue to be compared to the achievements of father Abedi Pele, a three-time African Footballer of the Year and European Cup winner.
It’s something the brothers couldn’t shake.
“What was difficult was that people always talked about my dad and what he had done, they always wanted to see him in me,” striker Ayew said in an interview more than a decade ago.
“When I decided to make a life of football, I knew what to expect.”
But now, with a major career under his belt, he seems to have embraced his father’s fame.
“I take a lot, if not all, of my inspiration from him,” Ayew said on a recent appearance on Ghanaian television when the subject of his father came up again.
Abedi Pele — widely regarded as one of the continent’s best footballers — was in the Marseille team that won the European Cup in 1993 but never went to a World Cup. Sean Andre is heading to his third in Qatar, on top of seven appearances in Nations Cup finals.
Ayew, who will turn 33 the day before the World Cup final and now plays club football for Qatari champions Al Sadd, made his Ghana debut in August 2007 in a friendly against Senegal in London, where he entered the game for the last minute of the match. game.
Some seven months later, he was starting for the Black Stars in a Nations Cup semi-final and has been a regular feature ever since.
His number of 107 appearances is a record for the country.
He had briefly played for France, where he was born while his father was playing for Lille, and left for the under-18s, but that was a short-lived idea.
In contrast, Ayew, known as ‘Dede’, has been at the heart of the Ghana team for over a decade, contributing with his left foot, strong center of gravity and ability to shrug off defenders and look to carve the his own path while also paying homage to his legacy.
Mark Gleeson writes in Cape Town. Editing by Clare Fallon
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