South Africa 2010 - A Star To Watch Quincy James Owusu-Abeyie

Quincy Owusu Abeyie

Quincy James Owusu-Abeyie was born to Ghanaian parents on April 15, 1986 in the Netherlands.

Known simply by his first name, Quincy is a footballer who plays for the Qatar Stars League Club, Al-Sadd.

He plays as a striker or on the left wing. He played international football for his adopted country at the youth level, but in 2007 opted to represent Ghana.

FIFA approved his request on January 10, 2008, just ahead of the 2008 African Cup of Nations.

Quincy had been a member of the youth team in his hometown club, Ajax, for nine years. Liam Brady, Arsenal's head of youth development, offered him a trial which proved successful and the player joined Arsenal in September 2002.

In the 2002–03 season, he scored 17 goals in 20 games for the Under-17 side, including six in a 7–1 defeat of Wolverhampton Wanderers Under-17. He was handed his first professional contract on his 18th birthday.

On Friday. January 5, 2007, Quincy came to Ghana to meet with the Ghana Football Association (GFA) officials for talks over the role he could play in Ghanaian football, and discussed switching his allegiance to play for Ghana.

The first attempt by the GFA to convince him to feature for the Black Stars at the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany hit a snag, following the player’s earlier appearances with the Netherlands' Under-21 side at the 2005 World Youth Championship.

Ghana’s coach, Claude Le Roy, named him in the Ghana squad for their February 6, 2007 friendly international match against Nigeria.

On December 18, 2007, Quincy was named as one of Ghana’s 40-man squad for their two-week training camp in Dubai, ahead of the 2008 African Cup of Nations.

He later told Spanish media that he was very happy to receive the call-up. On January 10, 2008, just ahead of the 2008 African Cup of Nations, FIFA approved Quincy's request to switch his nationality to Ghana.

Chelsea FC midfielder, Michael Essien was the first to congratulate the Dutch-born forward player.

Other players followed by pouring bottles of drink and buckets of water on Quincy to officially welcome him into the team amidst wild cheers from team officials.

Last Saturday, he scored the only goal against Latvia during the final World Cup warm-up match.