Ghanaian players have a strong reputation in European football but despite this only two players from Ghana have ever participated in a UEFA Super Cup final match and that is Ibrahim Tanko and Christian Gyan.
Thomas Partey could become the third name on this exclusive list should he play against Real Madrid tonight in Tallinn in the 2018 Super Cup final showdown between Partey’s Atletico Madrid and the White Angels.
Abedi Ayew “Pele”, Michael Essien, Samuel Osei Kuffour and Sulley Muntari have all won the prestigious UEFA Champions league competition but none of these great names played in the UEFA Super Cup.
Striker Ibrahim Tanko won the the 1997 Champions league with German club Dortmund despite not being part of the final match in Munich in May 1997 but Tanko became the first Ghanaian player to play in the UEFA Super Cup final match when Italian coach Nevio Scala handed him a start against FC Barcelona at the historic Nou Camp. Even though Tanko was substituted in the 58th minute and Dortmund went on to lose the game 2-0 this remains a big game in the records book of the current Black Stars assistant coach.
Then in 2002 another Ghanaian international Christian Gyan followed suits as he started the UEFA Cup final match at the right back position and helped his team Feyenoord to clinch the trophy by beating Dortmund 3-2. Gyan went on to start the Super Cup final at the Stade Louis II but unfortunately his Feyenoord side lost 3-1 to the almighty Real Madrid.
The 1993 Champions league winners Olympique Marseille were to play Parma in the 1993 edition of the Super Cup but Marseille’s subsequent ban from European football due to match-fixing meant Milan, the team Abedi Ayew and Mareille defeated in the Champions league final, competed in the Super Cup in their place. Abedi thus missed the opportunity to claim the honor owned by Ibrahim Tanko of being the first Ghanaian to play in the UEFA Super Cup because Pele became an European champion (1993) before Tanko (1997). The maestro moved to Olympique Lyon in that same year.
Others like Sammy Kuffour and Michael Essien have been involved in UEFA Super Cup matches but didn’t play in it. In 2001 the Bavarian defender Kuffour was an unused substitute when Liverpool defeated Bayern Munich 3-2 in Monaco as well as Michael Essien who watched from the bench throughout the game as Chelsea lost to Bayern Munich on penalties in 2013.
As for 2010 Champions league winner Sulley Muntari he was not part of the Inter Milan squad that lost to Atletico Madrid in the Super Cup.
