Have You Ever Wondered Why Abedi Ayew – One Of Ghana’s Greatest Players Ever – Was Named After Pelé?
Abedi Ayew was born in Kibi and grew up in the town of Dome at the northern outskirts of Accra. He grew up with 18 siblings and all he ever wanted to do was just play football. He had absolutely no idea who Pelé was because he never had access to electricity and televisions.
But even at a young age, whenever Abedi was playing football in any small corner he found himself, he realised people older than him kept shouting ‘oh Pele, he plays like Pele.’
The nickname got more popular when he attended Ghana Senior High School in Tamale and at one point, no one referred to him as Abedi Ayew. Everyone including his teachers, friends and family started to call him ‘Abedi Pelé’.
The nickname Pelé followed the attacking midfielder all the way from Ghana to some of the world’s biggest football stages, including the 1993 Champions League final where he helped lead the French club Olympique Marseille to its first ever European championship.
Pelé’s legacy transcends Brazil and South America and gave Ghana and Africa a football icon. Thanks Pelé for inspiring another version of yourself in Abedi Pelé. The world will always remember you .
Abedi Ayew Pelé, (born Nov. 5, 1964, Ghana), Ghanaian football (soccer) player who was the only man to have won the African Player of the Year award three consecutive times (1991–93). As an attacking midfielder with Olympique de Marseille in France, Abedi Pelé was one of the first African players to have an impact on club football in Europe.
Having been given the nickname “Pelé” in recognition of his superior ability, which evoked comparisons to Brazilian great Pelé, Abedi Pelé’s nomadic career began with Real Tamale in Ghana in 1978. He became a member of Ghana’s national team, the Black Stars, who won the African Cup of Nations in Libya in 1982.
Abedi Pelé led Saad Club to the Qatar national championship in 1983. He later moved to France, where between 1986 and 1993 he played for Chamois Niortais, Mulhouse, Marseille, and Lille.
At Marseille (1989–90, 1991–93) he combined attacking flair with tactical acumen and an uncanny ability to make game-winning plays and became a mainstay of the prodigious team that won French League titles in 1991 and 1992 as well as the Champions League title in 1993. After a corruption scandal disintegrated the Marseille club, Abedi Pelé moved to Olympique Lyonnais in 1993. He then played in Italy, Germany, and the United Arab Emirates before retiring in 1998. That same year an appreciative Ghanaian government bestowed upon him its highest honour, the Order of Volta (civil division).
