Jordan Ayew
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - 01/2015
Personal information
Full name
Jordan Pierre Ayew
Date of birth
11 September 1991
Place of birth
Marseille, France
Height
1.82 m
(5 ft 11 1⁄2 in)
Playing: position
Striker
Club information
Current team
Lorient
Number:
9
Youth career
Lyon Duchère
2000-2006
Marseille
2006-2009
Senior career*
Marseille
2009-2014
111x apps / 14x oals
→ Sochaux (loan)
2014
17x apps / 5x goals
Lorient
2014-
17x apps / 6x goals
National team
Ghana U20
2010
1x apps / 1x goal
Ghana
2010-
13x apps / 5x goals
(* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 16 August 2014. - National team caps and goals correct as of 9 June 2014)
Jordan Pierre Ayew, born 11 September 1991, is a Ghanaian international professional footballer who plays for the French Ligue 1 club Lorient.
Club career
Marseille
Ayew joined Marseille as a trainee in 2006.
He signed a 3-year professional contract with Marseille in 2009.
Ayew made his debut for the senior team on 16 December 2009 in a league game, scoring the equaliser against Lorient. Marseille went on to win the game 2:1.
Ayew scored his second goal against Nice at the Stade Vélodrome on 27 April 2011 in a match which saw his elder brother André Ayew score a hat-trick.
On 1 November 2011, Jordan and André both started a UEFA Champions League match for the first time against Premier League outfit Arsenal.
On 6 January 2014, he joined Ligue 1 rivals Sochaux on a loan deal until the end of the 2013-14 season.
Lorient
On 28 July 2014, Ayew signed a four-year contract with Lorient.
Ayew explained the style and quality of play that Lorient proposed was the reason behind the decision.
International career
Ayew made his first senior appearance for Ghana on 5 September 2010, in a 3:0 2012 AFCON Qualification match win against Swaziland, at the Somhlolo National Stadium in Lobamba, Swaziland.
On 1 June 2012, Ayew scored his first and second international goals in a 2014 World Cup qualification match win against Lesotho, at the Kumasi Sports Stadium in Kumasi, Ghana.
In December 2011, Ayew was named to the Ghana national team provisional 25-man squad for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations, and in January 2012 he was selected for the tournament's 23-man squad.
In June 2014, he was included in the Ghanaian squad for the 2014 World Cup.
In Ghana's last warm-up match before the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil on 9 June 2014, Ayew came on as a first-half substitute for the injured Majeed Waris and ended up scoring a hat-trick in a 4:0 victory over South Korea.
Personal
Ayew is a practising Muslim and initiates Salat before and after every football match.
Ayew is the son of Maha Ayew and Abedi Pelé, nephew of Kwame and Sola and brother of André, Ibrahim and Imani.
All male extended family and siblings are current or former professional footballers.
The former Dutch football-star, Ruud Gullit, hopes a team from Africa will perform well and prove to be the surprise package at the World Cup in Brazil.
Leicester City's Jeffery Schlupp has been axed from Ghana's 2014 World Cup squad. The defender is one of three players dropped from the preliminary 26-man World Cup squad announced on 12 May.
Appiah, a former Black Stars captain, was appointed in April 2012 with objectives to win the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations and qualify the side for the 2014 World Cup.
The former AC Milan midfielder also spoke about his plans to build a school in Kumasi - Ghana's second-largest city and his father's home town - in order to strengthen the bond with the local support.
African teams participating in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil
Ghana coach Kwesi Appiah dropped a number of big names.
Fixtures and results for the 2014 Confed Cup.
2013 champions: CS Sfaxien (Tunisia)
Winners advance to group stage
Jordan Ayew is the son of Ghana great Abedi Pele and has so far won 11 caps and scored two goals for the Black Stars. Ayew has scored three goals for Sochaux since he joined from Marseille on loan in January and knows playing well for his club can only help his chances of getting into the Black Stars' squad for Brazil.
He was the captain of Ghana's national football team for six years (1992-1998) and was one of the first African football players to earn a top placing in FIFA World Player of the Year voting in 1991 and 1992.
Abedi Pele played for Ghana 73 times and is considered the greatest football player in his country's history, and among the best in Africa. Until 7 June 2013 when he was surpassed by Asamoah Gyan, he was the top goal scorer for Ghana with 33 goals.
