Soccer News of Monday, 28 May 2001
Source: BBC
Veteran Ghanaian striker Anthony Yeboah has said he may quit playing next season. The 35-year-old, who plays for Hamburg SV, said his decision would depend on how he performs next season.
"I don't want to spoil my name. I want to leave the scene when I am still playing well," said Yeboah, who has scored around 130 league goals at nearly one every two games.
"At the moment I am not playing that well but I would decide to stop if things don't go well again next season," he said.
Yeboah, who was twice Bundesliga top scorer, also ruled out a possible move to Bayer Leverkusen and a re-union with Klaus Topm?ller, who was coach of Eintracht Frankfurt when Yeboah was at his peak.
The striker said: "I won't go to Leverkusen. My performance last season was not good because of injuries and I am not sure if a club as ambitious as Leverkusen would need me that much."
The former Leeds United striker, who last played for Ghana in 1997 in a World Cup qualifier against Sierra Leone in Freetown, was also honest about his future with the Black Stars.
"What the Stars need now is a player in good shape," he said. "I won't believe in the hype and proclaim myself worthy of a place in the team merely because some fans want me back. I am not playing well and that is the bottom line.
"I hope to pick up and I believe I can, but even then it would be wrong to push me into the Black Stars.
"I sincerely believe that we need to encourage the young ones. They are very talented and capable of taking Ghanaian football back to the top.
"I did my part but the Black Stars would need my performance, not my name."