Football saved me from becoming a thug - Stephen Appiah

Former Ghana hero Stephen Appiah has opened up on how his determination to become a professional footballer saved him from social vices.

Appiah is widely regarded as one of the best players to ever captained the Ghana senior national team, the Black Stars.

Now 39, Appiah began his playing career with Hearts of Oak before leaving to join Italian side Udinese in 1997 after playing an instrumental role in the Phobians league success that season.

In an interview with Joy FM, the former Fenerbahce star remarked that the narrative could have been different had he followed the path of his friends by engaging in social vices.

"I used to sleep in Trotros [commercial vehicle] and there were times I was woken up in the middle of the night to do some bad things but I said no because I just wanted to be a footballer."

Appiah was Ghana's captain as the Black Stars featured at their maiden World Cup tournament in 2006, also going ahead to play at South Africa 2010 four years later.

Having retired from the Black Stars later in 2010, the former Juventus man was a member of Ghana's team for the 2014 World Cup in a non-playing capacity.

In 2017, he was named as technical coordinator of the Black Stars, a role he held until December last year.