Edward Kobina Acquah (23 July 1935 – 5 October 2011) was a Ghanaian footballer who played as a forward. He competed for the Ghana national team at the 1964 Summer Olympics. He also scored four goals for Ghana in the 1963 African Cup of Nations.

Club career Edward started his playing career for Sekondi Eleven Wise F.C., following his father's footsteps. His father's name was Kojo Acquah and he was regarded as one finest strikers of his time. However, Edward did not start his career as a striker, instead, due to his tall stature, was deployed as a goalkeeper in his early years. He was summoned to play as a striker when their first choice keeper, betrayed Eleven Wise and went to play for another club. During this game, Edward scored 2 goals as Eleven Wise were victorious. He was also sometimes deployed as a right-winger on occasions, but he was never better than the great Baba Yara, therefore he stayed as a centre-forward.

In the 1959/1960 season, Eleven Wise unfortunately finished bottom of the league with only 6 points and 10 losses. Due to Ghana not having a second division at the time, Sekondi stayed up and in the succeeding season, did the unthinkable. Acquah led Eleven Wise to one of the most entertaining seasons throughout the history of Ghanaian football. Previous season's winners Asante Kotoko were looking to become the first team in the Ghana Premier League's history to win in it back-to-back years. However, Eleven Wise won the championship, bettering Asante Kotoko by just two points. The final game of the season, Eleven Wise were losing 1–0 to Hasacaas in the Sekondi derby, but in the 85th minute Eleven Wise won a penalty which Acquah converted with ease. All Eleven Wise had to do was wait, Asante Kotoko played their game later on in the day, against Cornerstones. Surprisingly, Asante Kotoko lost 2-0 and this meant that Eleven Wise were champions.

According to Ohene Djan, Ghana's former FA chairman and first Director of Sport, Acquah scored over 400 goals in his club career and also 166 goals in 77 games, internationally. The club statistics contain friendly games and the international statistics contain regional games and unofficial games, totalling to 566 goals in his career. This tally could increase further, through research in newspaper reports of the time. He may be in contention of being part of RSSSF's list of players with over 500 goals

International career Acquah was called up to the Gold Coast team on 16 December 1956 scoring a hat-trick on his debut against Sierra Leone, in a tight 4–3 victory in the Akewe Cup. Three months later, Ghana celebrated their independence from British colonial rule, thereby making this game Acquah's only appearance for the Gold Coast team.

The team carried on playing, but now as Ghana. On 19 August 1962 the Real Madrid squad that had won the European Cup 5 times consecutively visited Ghana for a game. The game was electrifying; at one point Ghana led 3–2, with Acquah scoring, but a blinding pass by Ferenc Puskas set up Yanko Daucik to score the equalising goal, with only minutes to go. Acquah played a further 40 official games for Ghana, scoring 42 goals since independence, before hanging up his international boots in 1964.

Career statistics International + Appearances and goals by national team and yearNational teamYearAppsGoalsGhana19561319572019581019595419607919615219626111963510196484Total4145

+ List of international goals scored by Edward AcquahNo.DateOpponentResultCompetition1 16 December 1956 Sierra Leone4–3 Akwei Cup 234 25 October 1959 Nigeria 4–1 Ol. Qualifier56 6 December 1959 Egypt 2–0 Ol. Qualifier78 7 February 1960 Sierra Leone6–2 Kwame Nkrumah910 3 July 1960 Egypt2–2 Friendly11 28 August 1960 Nigeria4–1 WC Qualifier12 10 September 1960 Nigeria2–2 WC Qualifier1314 2 October 1960 Mali 4–1 Kwame Nkrumah1516 7 October 1960 Nigeria 3–0 Kwame Nkrumah1718 5 March 1961 Mali 3–0 Friendly19 30 April 1961Nigeria 2–2 African Cup Qualifiers20 17 December 1961 Nigeria 5–1 Azikiwe Cup212223 29 September 1962 Kenya 6–2 Uhuru Cup2425 10 October 1962 Uganda 4–1 Uhuru Cup26 12 October 1962 Kenya 4–0 Friendly272829 15 October 1962 Malawi 12–0 Friendly30313233 18 October 1962Tanzania 6–2Friendly34 24 February 1963Nigeria 5–0 Kwame Nkrumah Cup35 3 March 1963Mali4–0 Kwame Nkrumah Cup363738 26 November 1963Ethiopia2–0 African Nations Cup3940 1 December 1963Sudan 3–0 African Nations Cup4142 18 January 1964Liberia 5–4 Olympic Qualifiers4344 21 June 1964Tunisia 1–2 Olympic Qualifiers45 12 October 1964Argentina 1–1 Olympics

Honours Club Ghana Premier League: 1961, 1963 Ghana FA Cup: 1963, 1964, 1965

International

AFCON: 1963 Nkrumah Cup: 1959, 1960, 1963 1962 Ugandan Independence Tournament: 1962

See also Football at the 1964 Summer Olympics

References

External links