Abédi Pelé, född 5 november 1964 i Domé, är en ghanansk före detta fotbollsspelare.Han blev utsedd till årets fotbollsspelare i Afrika 1991, 1992 och 1993. He had come to prominence having made his debut for Real Tamale United at the age of just 15, going on to force his way into his national squad where he would remain for the next 14 years.Unwittingly, however, the peak of Abedi’s international career was reached at its very outset. Arguably the finest footballer Ghana has ever produced, he was a crucial component in the most aesthetically pleasing team Marseille ever fielded. birthday looming on the horizon, it had taken Abedi almost a decade to reach such dizzying widespread recognition. He had finally found a degree of stability after the nomadic nature of his career thus far. The squad sparked off memories of great footballing moments at club and international levelIn June 2001 he was nominated by the present government of Ghana to serve as the next Chairman of the FA, an opportunity he later gave up for a more experienced former coach of Ghana for which in his own words said that this was to be an opportunity to learn from his superiors. Yet, as a club owner, there was controversy aplenty.
Just as with Saint-Étienne in the 1970s, there was a sense of a coronation unfulfilled for Olympique de Marseille in 1991. The facilitator of the move, the man who had delicately clipped the ball from the left touchline to Papin, and who joined the Frenchman and Waddle in what became known as ‘The Magical Trio’, was the hypnotically talented Abedi Ayew; otherwise known as Abedi Pele. Those magical entities fell just short, only to see a more pragmatic version prevail a short time later.
After attracting the interest of FC Zürich, he was one of the very few bright points of a forgettable season for a club which had dominated Swiss football in the mid-to-late 1970s, and whose last title win had been as recent as 1981. The Marseille of May 1991 seemed capable of anything; immortality beckoned at a time when France was still, bewilderingly, awaiting its first club success on the European stage. So profound was his talent that his adoption of the nickname ‘Pele’ has never felt like egotism or false praise.On that tempestuous evening against Milan in March 1991, Ghana’s favourite footballing son was widely billed as something of an overnight success. In what proved to be one last hurrah for the Abedi, Papin and Waddle-powered version of Marseille, the domestic double was a distinct possibility until they travelled to Bastia for the Coupe de France semi-final.The collapse of a temporary stand at the Armand Cesari Stadium led to the deaths of 18 spectators. The Valenciennes match-fixing scandal would forever tarnish Marseille’s success. After going out during the group stages of the 1984 Cup of Nations as holders, Ghana failed to qualify for the finals again until 1992 in Senegal. Pelé gjorde 73 landskamper och 33 mål för Ghana mellan 1982 och 1998 och var även lagkapten. His was a side destined to never beWhen Marseille were crowned champions of Europe a year later, it was without Papin – who was on duty for Milan that evening – or Waddle, who had returned to England with Sheffield Wednesday. Tainted by their indelible association to the controversial figure of Bernard Tapie, the joy of their football and their position as the heir to AC Milan’s throne as the preeminent force in Europe is generally forgotten. It was a very different Marseille, in a similar way to how the Denmark of Euro 92 was vastly different to the vintages of Euro 84 and Mexico 86.