The Ayews: A Lowdown On The Family’s Dominance In Ghana’s AFCON History
The Ayew name is certainly a name that wouldn’t depart the lips of the Ghanaian football fraternity for years to come, simply because of the family’s contributions.
While the Black Stars will be the focus of their legacy, one of the Ayew’s involvement in Ghana’s youth triumph years ago also contributes to their prominence.
Ghana’s current skipper Andre Ayew wore the armband as the Black Satellites made history by defeating the Brazilian U-20 side for the 2009 world cup tournament.
That moment was to be a springboard for the charismatic leader as he got promoted to the Black Stars and has since then helped his family established a legacy in the national team.
But, of course, the writing of the Ayew history did not begin with the Qatar based player, but started from the man who has been regarded as one of the most skillful and technically gifted players to have don the national shirt.
Abedi Pele, popularly known as the Maestro, was the first Ayew to represent the Black Stars at the African Cup of Nations and continues to be the only Ayew to have won the tournament.
The father set the standard very high in two competitions between 1982 and 1996 where he netted 6 goals.
Three of the six goals came in the 1992 tournament where Ghana were runners up, while the other three were scored in 1996.
Abedi’s brother Kwame Ayew is well known for his contributions when the Ghana National team won bronze at the 1992 summer Olympics, but has also contributed to the family’s history at the African Cup of Nations.
Kwame Ayew in his brief spell with the national team in which he made 25 caps scored twice at the AFCON, with both coming against Cameroon and Togo in 2000.
His tally is the lowest among the family and he is edged out by Jordan Ayew who has netted 4 goals in the AFCON.
The Crystal Palace striker is currently with the Black Stars in Cameroon and could increase his tally.
Dede Ayew of course leads the chart with 10 goals, having represented the country at 7 different AFCON tournaments till date.
Breakdown of the 22 goals scored by the Ayews
Abedi Pele- six (6) goals
1992 vs Zambia
1992 vs Congo
1992 vs Nigeria
1996 vs Ivory Coast
1996 vs Tunisia
1996 vs Mozambique
Kwame Ayew- Two (2) goals
2000 vs Cameroon
2000 vs Togo
Andre Ayew- Ten (10) goals
2010 vs Burkina Faso
2012 vs Mali
2012 vs Tunisia
2015 vs Senegal
2015 vs South Africa
2015 vs Equatorial Guinea
2017 vs Uganda
2017 vs DR Congo
2019 vs Benin
2021 vs Gabon
Jordan Ayew- Three (4) goals
2015 vs Equatorial Guinea
2017 vs DR Congo
2019 vs Benin
2019 vs Guinea Bissau