Sammy Kuffour announces testimonial match

By George Osei

*Former Ghana international Samuel Osei Kuffour has announced the date for his testimonial match to officially bring to an end an illustrious football playing career.*

This will be the first time in the history of Ghana football that a retired footballer is having a testimonial played in his honour.

The game has been fixed for December 23 at the Baba Yara Stadium in Kumasi where the national team of Ghana will play against a select side of soccer luminaries both local and international to bring to an end the playing career of Kuffour capped 59 times by his country.

The game is being put together by the Ghana Football Association (GFA) in partnership with German giants Bayern Munich – a club Kuffour served for 11 years.

The defender will become the first of what the Ghana FA hopes will be a sustainable tradition of honouring Ghana’s football heroes – an establishment deep in the heart of the Association.

Some of the big names in the game past and present are being lined up to feature in this testimonial to be played at the biggest stadium in the country.

The likes of Dwight Yorke, Andy Cole, Lothar Matthaus, Oliver Khan, Pablo Thiam, Stefan Effenberg, Yay Jay Okocha, Edgar Davids, Rigobert Song, Patrick Kluivert, Samuel Eto’o Fils and a host of others , are billed to show up for this event.

Kuffour, who started his career with local side King Faisal Babes, also played for Torino, Nuremburg, Roma, Livorno, Ajax and Bayern Munich, all in Europe.

He announced his retirement from the game in September 2008, having made over 250 appearances in the Bundesliga with Bayern Munich, and, winning the European Champions League in 2001 with the German powerhouse.

Kuffour also won the 2001 Intercontinental Cup with Bayern where he scored the winning goal in the 1 – 0 victory over Boca Juniors of Argentina in the final.

He made five appearances for Ghana at the African Cup of Nations Championships although he never won the ultimate. His first cap for Ghana at senior level was in 1993 in a friendly cup game with Sierra Leone as a 17 year old.

Kuffour has played at two Olympics 1992 where he won bronze and 1996 where Ghana made the last eight. He was a member of the 1991 Under 17 team that won the world title in Italy and was also part of the side that placed second two years later.

He played at the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany where Ghana reached the last 16 on her debut and still holds the record as the youngest defender of all times to score in the European Champions League aged 18 years and 61 days in a game between Bayern Munich and FC Spartak Moscow on November 2, 1994.