David Opoku

David Osei Opoku (born 31 January 1992) is a Ghanaian professional footballer who currently plays as a forward for Muaither SC.

David Opoku
Personal information
Full name David Osei Opoku
Date of birth (1992-01-31) 31 January 1992
Place of birth Accra, Ghana
Height 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Position(s) Forward
Team information
Current team
 Muaither SC
Number 11
Youth career
Achimota School
2010–2011 UC Santa Barbara Gauchos
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2012 MYPA 13 (0)
2012 → IF Gnistan (loan) 6 (7)
2014 Sanat Mes Kerman F.C. 3 (0)
2015 Al Egtmaaey Tripoli 17 (10)
2016 Tripoli SC 10 (5)
2017–2018 Muaither SC 4 (1)
International career‡
2011–2014 Ghana U23 3
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 20:55, 1 November 2016 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 22:34, 4 January 2016 (UTC)

Playing career

Youth and college

Opoku played for Achimota School in Accra, Ghana and trained with Chelsea FC in England[1] before moving to the United States to play college football for the University of California, Santa Barbara. He spent 2 seasons with the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos men's soccer team and was named the Big West Conference Freshman of the Year in 2010 in addition to being named to the 2010 All-Big West Second Team.[2] He ended his career with the Gauchos with 15 goals and 7 assists.

Professional

After a few months of trials,[3] Opoku signed a contract with Finnish Veikkausliiga club Myllykosken Pallo −47 in April 2012.[4][5] He played in 13 Veikkausliiga matches with the club, scoring no goals.[6] He did score in his lone 2012–13 UEFA Europa League appearance on 12 July 2012 against Cefn Druids A.F.C.[7][8]

Opoku was sent on loan to IF Gnistan, who play in the Finnish Kakkonen, in August 2012 to see out the remainder of his contract where he scored 7 goals in 10 matches.[9][10]

He joined Iranian club Sanat Mes Kerman F.C. on a short-term deal in March 2014 and recorded one assist during his time with the club.[11]

In Fall 2015, he signed for Lebanese Premier League side Al Egtmaaey Tripoli.[12]

He then joined rivals Tripoli SC the following year.[13]

In the summer of 2017, he signed with Qatar Stars League club Muaither SC.[14]

International

David was called up to train with the Ghana national under-23 football team in June 2011 when he was still enrolled at UC Santa Barbara.[15][16][17] He appeared in an exhibition against Deportivo FC and scored a goal.[18] He was again called up to camp with the national team in October 2014 and made the trip to Nigeria to play against the Nigerian senior national team in a friendly played in honor of the opening of the Akwa Ibom international stadium. He made second half appearance in the game and nearly equalized.[19][20]

Honours

Individual

References
  1. Gyimah, Edmund Okai (14 November 2012). "I'm working towards Black Stars call-up - Former Chelsea youth team striker David Opoku". Goal.com. Retrieved 11 September 2014.
  2. "UC Santa Barbara Nearly Pulls Off Men's Soccer Award Sweep" (PDF). Big West Conference. 16 November 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 September 2014. Retrieved 4 September 2014.
  3. Eskilson, J.R. (18 April 2012). "Former UC Santa Barbara striker David Opoku signs with Finnish club Myllkosken Pallo". TopDrawerSoccer. Retrieved 4 September 2014.
  4. "OPOKU MYPAAN" (in Finnish). Archived from the original on 11 May 2012. Retrieved 14 April 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  5. "Opoku MYPA:an". Veikkausliiga (in Finnish). 12 April 2012. Archived from the original on 4 September 2014. Retrieved 4 September 2014.
  6. "MYPAn Opoku osui jälleen Kakkosessa". Veikkausliiga (in Finnish). 9 September 2012. Archived from the original on 23 October 2014. Retrieved 4 January 2016.
  7. "Footballdatabase player profile". Footballdatabase.eu. Retrieved 11 September 2014.
  8. "ESPN FC player profile". ESPNFC.com. Retrieved 11 September 2014.
  9. "Ennakko: LPS – Gnistan". IF Gnistan (in Finnish). 29 August 2012. Retrieved 3 September 2014.
  10. "Opoku loppukaudeksi MYPAsta Gnistaniin". Veikkausliiga (in Finnish). 1 September 2012. Archived from the original on 4 September 2014. Retrieved 4 September 2014.
  11. جدول عملکرد بازیکنان مس در فصل گذشته. fcmes.com (in Persian). 21 April 2014. Archived from the original on 11 September 2014. Retrieved 11 September 2014.
  12. Akoto, Patrick (9 September 2015). "EXCLUSIVE: Ex-Ghana U23 striker David Opoku agrees two-year deal with Lebanese side Al-Ijtimai Tripoli". ghanasoccernet.com. Retrieved 4 January 2016.
  13. "David Opoku on target for AC Tripoli". ghanaweb.com. 11 September 2016. Retrieved 14 August 2017.
  14. "David Opoku completes move to Muaither SC". ghanaweb.com. 8 August 2017. Retrieved 14 August 2017.
  15. "Opoku Called Up to Ghana U-23 National Team Camp". UC Santa Barbara Gauchos. 21 June 2011. Retrieved 4 September 2014.
  16. Punzal, Barry (21 June 2011). "presidiosports.com/2011/06/ghana-calls-in-opoku-to-u-23-national-team/". Presidio Sports. Retrieved 4 September 2014.
  17. "US-based college footballer David Opoku in Ghana U23 team". Ghanasoccernet. 22 June 2011. Retrieved 4 September 2014.
  18. "Meteors rain goals on Deportivo in friendly win". ghanasoccernet.com. 6 July 2011. Retrieved 11 September 2014.
  19. "Ghana team for Nigeria friendly". newtelegraphonline.com. 3 November 2014. Archived from the original on 10 November 2014. Retrieved 10 November 2014.
  20. "Opoku confident of a Ghana win against Nigeria". allsports.com.gh. 7 November 2014. Archived from the original on 10 November 2014. Retrieved 10 November 2014.
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