Sulley Muntari
 Muntari in 2008 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Sulleyman Ali Muntari | ||
| Date of birth | 27 August 1984 | ||
| Place of birth | Konongo, Ghana | ||
| Height | 1.79 m (5 ft 10+1⁄2 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2000–2001 | Liberty Professionals | ||
| 2001–2002 | Udinese | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2002–2007 | Udinese | 125 | (8) |
| 2007–2008 | Portsmouth | 29 | (4) |
| 2008–2012 | Inter Milan | 66 | (7) |
| 2011 | → Sunderland (loan) | 9 | (1) |
| 2012 | → AC Milan (loan) | 13 | (3) |
| 2012–2015 | AC Milan | 57 | (8) |
| 2015–2016 | Al Ittihad | 18 | (2) |
| 2017 | Pescara | 9 | (1) |
| 2018 | Deportivo La Coruña | 8 | (0) |
| 2019 | Albacete | 2 | (0) |
| 2022 | Hearts of Oak | 11 | (1) |
| Total | 347 | (35) | |
| National team | |||
| 2001 | Ghana U20 | 7 | (0) |
| 2002–2014 | Ghana | 84 | (20) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 20:00, 10 June 2022 (UTC) | |||
Sulley Muntari (born 27 August 1984) is a former Ghanaian football player. He played for Internazionale Milano and the Ghanaian national team. A former left-back,[1] Muntari later developed into a powerful, experienced, hard-working, and tenacious midfielder; although he is primarily known for his physical strength and combative playing style, he was also able to make notable improvements to his technical skills throughout his career. He also possesses a good left foot, a powerful shot from outside the area, and is a solid passer of the ball. Widely considered as one of the best Ghana's midfielders in his prime.
Club career
[change | change source]For the 2002/03 season, the then 18-year-old Muntari moved from Liberty Professionals from Ghana to Serie A club Udinese Calcio.
In the summer of 2006, he wanted to move to the Premier League, preferably to Manchester United. In the winter of 2007, several English and Italian clubs, such as AC Milan, showed interest in the Ghanaian midfielder. However, Udinese Calcio rejected an offer of over eleven million euros in the winter. In the summer of 2007, Muntari moved to Portsmouth FC for the equivalent of ten million euros. He signed a contract until 2012. In 2008, he won the FA Cup with Portsmouth.
In the summer of 2008, Muntari returned to Italy to join Inter Milan for 14 million euros. He signed a five-year contract. After Muntari was no longer able to progress beyond the role of a substitute at Inter, he was loaned to AFC Sunderland for six months in January 2011. There he met John Mensah and Asamoah Gyan, with whom he also plays in the Ghanaian national team.
On 31 January 2012, Inter Milan loaned Muntari to AC Milan until the end of the season. He was later given a two-year contract until 30 June 2014.
On 30 June 2015, it was announced that Muntari's contract with AC Milan was terminated by mutual consent.
He has been under contract with Ittihad FC since July 27, 2015. His contract there is for two years. However, the contract was terminated in July 2016.
Muntari was looking for a club until January 2017, before joining Italian first division club Delfino Pescara 1936. He only made 9 appearances for the second division club.
After another long period without a club, he signed with Deportivo La Coruña on 22 February 2018. In 2019, he was briefly under contract with Albacete Balompié. In 2022, he returned to his homeland and signed a contract with Accra Hearts of Oak.
International career
[change | change source]Muntari made his debut for the Ghanaian national team on May 17, 2002 in a friendly match against Slovenia. At the 2006 World Cup in Germany he scored in the important 2-0 win against the Czech Republic, but was unable to play in the 2-1 win against the USA due to his second yellow card. Nevertheless, he played a huge part in Ghana reaching the round of 16, which they lost to Brazil.
In the opening match of the 2008 African Cup of Nations against Guinea, Muntari scored the decisive 2-1 goal for Ghana in extra time and took his national team to third place. He was not considered for the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations for disciplinary reasons.
During a test match before the 2010 World Cup against the Netherlands (1:4), there was a dispute on the field between Muntari and Hans Sarpei, who urged Muntari to play more as a team. At the 2010 World Cup, Muntari only played for thirteen minutes in the first two group matches against Australia. After he became abusive to the coach, he was briefly banned from the squad before the last group match. After Muntari apologized, however, this decision was reversed and he made a brief appearance in the round of 16 victory over the USA. In the quarter-final against Uruguay, he then made his first start and scored the interim 1:0. Nevertheless, Ghana were unfortunately eliminated in the penalty shootout and thus missed the chance to become the first African team to advance to a World Cup semi-final.
On 13 May 2014, he was called up to the squad of the Ghana national football team for the 2014 World Cup. After an argument with an association official, he was suspended indefinitely by the Ghana FA on 26 June 2014 and removed from the squad.
Career statistics
[change | change source]Club
[change | change source]| Club | Season | League | National Cup | Continental | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Udinese | 2002–03 | Serie A | 12 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 14 | 0 | ||
| 2003–04 | Serie A | 23 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1[a] | 0 | — | 28 | 0 | ||
| 2004–05 | Serie A | 33 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 2[b] | 0 | — | 41 | 2 | ||
| 2005–06 | Serie A | 29 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 11[c] | 0 | — | 40 | 3 | ||
| 2006–07 | Serie A | 28 | 3 | 2 | 1 | — | — | 30 | 4 | |||
| Total | 125 | 8 | 14 | 1 | 14 | 0 | — | 153 | 9 | |||
| Portsmouth | 2007–08 | Premier League | 29 | 4 | 4 | 1 | — | — | 33 | 5 | ||
| Internazionale | 2008–09 | Serie A | 27 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 7[a] | 1 | 1[d] | 1 | 38 | 5 |
| 2009–10 | Serie A | 27 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 9[a] | 0 | 1[d] | 0 | 42 | 2 | |
| 2010–11 | Serie A | 8 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3[a] | 0 | 1[e] | 0 | 13 | 1 | |
| 2011–12 | Serie A | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 4 | 0 | ||
| Total | 66 | 7 | 9 | 0 | 19 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 97 | 8 | ||
| Sunderland (loan) | 2010–11 | Premier League | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 9 | 1 | ||
| Milan (loan) | 2011–12 | Serie A | 13 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 14 | 3 | |
| Milan | 2012–13 | Serie A | 15 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2[a] | 1 | — | 18 | 2 | |
| 2013–14 | Serie A | 26 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 8[a] | 1 | — | 34 | 6 | ||
| 2014–15 | Serie A | 16 | 2 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 17 | 2 | |||
| Total | 70 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 10 | 2 | — | 83 | 13 | |||
| Al-Ittihad | 2015–16 | Saudi Professional League | 18 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 29 | 3 |
| Pescara | 2016–17 | Serie A | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 9 | 1 | ||
| Deportivo La Coruña | 2017–18 | La Liga | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 8 | 0 | ||
| Albacete | 2018–19 | Segunda División | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 2 | 0 | ||
| Hearts of Oak | 2021–22 | Ghana Premier League | 11 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1[f] | 0 | 15 | 1 |
| Career total | 347 | 35 | 36 | 2 | 48 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 438 | 41 | ||
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Appearances in UEFA Champions League
- ↑ Appearances in UEFA Europa League
- ↑ 8 appearances in UEFA Champions League and 3 appearances in UEFA Europa League
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Appearances in Italian Supercup
- ↑ Appearances in FIFA Club World Cup
- ↑ Appearances in President's Cup
International
[change | change source]| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ghana | 2002 | 2 | 2 |
| 2003 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2004 | 5 | 1 | |
| 2005 | 6 | 2 | |
| 2006 | 11 | 3 | |
| 2007 | 8 | 2 | |
| 2008 | 12 | 4 | |
| 2009 | 6 | 2 | |
| 2010 | 6 | 2 | |
| 2011 | 10 | 1 | |
| 2012 | 8 | 1 | |
| 2013 | 5 | 2 | |
| 2014 | 4 | 0 | |
| Total | 84 | 20 | |
- Scores and results list the Ghana's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Muntari goal.
Honours
[change | change source]Portsmouth
Inter Milan[5]
- Serie A: 2008–09, 2009–10
- Coppa Italia: 2009–10
- Supercoppa Italiana: 2008, 2010
- UEFA Champions League: 2009–10
- FIFA Club World Cup: 2010
Hearts of Oak
Ghana U20
- African Youth Championship runner-up: 2001[8]
- FIFA U-20 World Cup runner-up: 2001[9]
Ghana
- Africa Cup of Nations third place: 2008[10]
Individual
- CAF Team of the Year: 2008[11]
- Africa Cup of Nations Team of the Tournament: 2008[12]
- Calcio Trade Ball Lifetime Achievement Award: 2022[13]
References
[change | change source]- ↑ Vitiello, Antonio (20 February 2012). "Corosu: "Da terzino a mediano, tutto su Muntari" (in Italian). Milan News. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
- ↑ "Muntari, Sulley Ali". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmerman. Retrieved 27 February 2012.
- ↑ Sulleyman Ali "Sulley" Muntari - Goals in International Matches - RSSSF
- ↑ Cite error: The named reference
BBC SPORTwas used but no text was provided for refs named (see the help page). - ↑ "Sulley Ali Muntari | Players | F.C. Internazionale | inter.it". Inter - inter.it | I M Inter Milano. Retrieved 9 March 2023.
- ↑ Kwafo, Eric Nana Yaw (5 March 2022). "Sulley Muntari clinches first trophy with Hearts of Oak a month after joining club". Modern Ghana. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
- ↑ "2022 MTN FA Cup final: How Hearts and Bechem United made it - MyJoyOnline.com". myjoyonline.com. 24 June 2022. Retrieved 26 June 2022.
- ↑ "Man Utd chasing Ghana teenager". BBC Sport Online. 15 May 2001. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
- ↑ "FIFA World Youth Championship Argentina 2001 - Teams - Ghana - Matches". FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. Archived from the original on 17 July 2015. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
- ↑ "26th Africa Cup of Nations Ghana 2008". cafonline.com. CAF. 9 February 2008. Archived from the original on 14 February 2008.
- ↑ "CAF - CAF Awards - Previous Editions - 2008". CAF. Retrieved 18 January 2017.
- ↑ "CAF names Best XI for Ghana 2008 ACN". CAF Online. 10 February 2008. Archived from the original on 13 February 2008. Retrieved 11 February 2008.
- ↑ Sekyere, Eddie K. (2022-06-30). "Andre Ayew, Afena-Gyan and others win Calcio Trade Ball 2022 awards". MX24. Archived from the original on 2022-07-26. Retrieved 2022-07-26.
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