Kwasi Owusu is Ghana's all-time highest scorer, not Gyan- Researcher

Thomas Freeman N Yeboah

A researcher and a member of the GFA Research and Information Management Committee has stated categorically that Kwasi Owusu is the all time top scorer for the Black Stars and not Asamoah Gyan.

According to Thomas Freeman N. Yeboah, the former Black Stars captain (1975-77) scored a total of 36 goals, two more than the current Ghana captain Asamoah Gyan has scored in a decade.

His latest revelation comes on the back of a huge controversy over who is truly Ghana's all time top scorer.

That record was deemed to have been held by the Maestro Abedi Ayew Pele until he was dethroned last Friday when Asamoah Gyan's brace against Sudan shot him to prominence as the highest goal scorer for the Black Stars.

Freeman revealed on Kumasi based Metro FM last week that Abedi Pele per the facts had scored only 19 goals and could not have been Ghana's top scorer.

He promised that in subsequent editions of the 'Academic and Matured Sports', show he would disclose who is Ghana's top scorer.

On Wednesday, Thomas Freeman N. Yeboah stated emphatically that Kwasi Owusu is the man who wears the crown of Ghana's all time scorer with 39 goals, three of which were disqualified because the match was abandoned.

He found that Kwasi Owusu played for Bofoakwa fc and captained the Black Stars from 1975 to 1977. He also mentored Dan Owusu the first player to win Ghana's league top scorer for three consecutive seasons.

He gives Kwasi Owusu's goal tally as follows;
Below is a list of all the goals scored by Kwasi Owusu

14/12/1975 Ghana 6-2 Guinea: Kwasi Owusu 3 goals, Ogq

31/08/1975 Ghana 3-0 Nigeria: Kwasi Owusu pen, Nigeria/Ghana Festival

24/08/1975 Ghana 1-2 Nigeria :Kwasi Owusu, Nigeria/Ghana Festival

27/04/1975 Ghana 4-0 Mali: Kwasi Owusu, Ancq
20/04/1975 Liberia 1-4 Ghana: Kwasi Owusu 2 goals Ogq

13/04/1975 Mali 3-1 Ghana:Kwasi Owusu, Ancq
06/04/1975 Ghana 6-0 Liberia: Kwasi Owusu 2 goals, Ogq

17/08/1974 Nigeria 0-1Ghana: Kwasi Owusu, Nigeria/Ghana Festival

10/02/1973 Nigeria 2-3 Ghana, Kwasi Owusu 3 goals Wcq(FIFA 2-0 awarded). Match abandoned. (Goals scored by Kwasi Owusu won't count)

14/01/1973 Guinea 2-1 Ghana: Kwasi Owusu , African Games Sf

10/01/1973 Tanzania 0-1 Ghana: Kwasi Owusu, African Games Rd 1

08/01/1973 Nigeria 4-2 Ghana: Kwasi Owusu, African Games Rd 1

02/07/1972 Ghana 5-1 Dahomey, Kwasi Owusu, Wcq
18/06/1972 Dahomey 0-5 Ghana: Kwasi Owusu 2 goals, Wcq

30/04/1972 Cameroon 0-3 Ghana: Kwasi Owusu, Ogq
02/05/1971 Ivory Coast 2-6 Ghana: Kwasi Owusu 2 goals, Fr

07/02/1971 Ghana 2-1 Sierra Leone: Kwasi Owusu, Fr
19/04/1970 Ghana 1-1 Ivory Coast: Kwasi Owusu, Fr
15/04/1970 Ghana 3-0 Ivory Coast Kwasi Owusu, Fr
11/02/1970 Ghana 1-1 Guinea:Kwasi Owusu, AFRICA Rd 1

07/02/1970 Zaire 0-2 Ghana: Kwasi Owusu 2 goals, AFRICA Rd 1

21/09/1969 Niger 1-9 Ghaan: Kwasi Owusu 4 goals, Ancq

17/08/1969 Ghana 6-0 Niger: Kwasi Owusu 5 goals, Ancq

Matches without the scorers during the period Kwasi Owusu played for Ghana

12/11/1969 Congo 1-1 Ghana, Fr
31/01/1971 Sierra Leone 2-1 Ghana 1-2 Fr
30/11/1972 Ghana 1-0 Liberia, Agq
If the three goals that the scorers are unknown, during his playing days for Ghana are added to his thirty six (36) recorded goals in the archives then his total tally will be thirty nine (39)

GOALS WITHOUT SCORERS: 3
Names of players deemed to have been Ghana's all time scorer and the results of the research conducted on them

(1) Asamoah Gyan: He has scored 34 goals; all recorded in the archives.

(2) Edward Acquah: scored thirty (30) goals as recorded in the archives, but four of the goals had no scorers in the archives.

(3) Wilberforce Kwadwo Mfum scored 24 goals as recorded in the archives, but there are about 5 goals without the scorers being recorded in the archives during the period Mfum played for Ghana.

(4) Osei Kofi scored a total of 21 goals as recorded in the archives, but there are about 7 goals without the scorers recorded in the archives during the period Osei played for Ghana.

(5) Abedi Pele scored a total of 19 goals as recorded in the archives, but there are about 7 goals without the scorers recorded in the archives during the period Abedi Pele played for Ghana.

(6) Tony Yeboah scored a total of 18 goals as recorded in the archives, but there are about 5 goals without the scorers recorded in the archives during the period Tony Yeboah played for Ghana.

(7) Kofi Pare scored a total of 15 goals as recorded in the archives, but there are six goals without the scorers, during the period he played.

Note: Baba Yara scored six (6) goals, as recorded in the archives but there are four goals although the score lines recorded there are no scorers, during the period Baba Yara played. Although he is not within the all time top ten scorers for Ghana, his name came up as one of the people likely to be the all-time top scorer.

Other players like C.K Gyamfi, Aggrey Fyn, Opoku Afriyie,George Alhassan, Opoku Nti, Yaw Preko, Mathew Amoah,etc scored a good number of goals for Ghana, but it is far from the top scoring record and at the same time their names haven't come up by soccer pundits and football fans for the all-time top scorer for Ghana.

Freeman challenged the assertion that some players scored enough goals to make them attain the all-time top scoring record.

Furthermore he said matches played by Ghana against clubs are not part of this analysis because when tallying international goals by players friendly matches with club sides are not taken into consideration.

For instance Edward Acquah could have ended up being the all-time top scorer if goals he scored against clubs by Ghana were taken into consideration. In 1962 Ghana embarked on East African tour and at the end he scored 13 goals but 8 of them were against club sides and also on Sunday 15th May, 1960 Ghana beat Blackpool by 5-0 and Acquah scored all the 5 goals.