Ibrahim Sunday (born 22 July 1944) is a Ghanaian former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player and coach. A

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

, he played the majority of his career for Ghanaian club

Asante Kotoko Asante Kotoko Sporting Club, simply known as Asante Kotoko, is a professional sports, professional association football, football club founded on 31 August 1935 and based in Kumasi in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. Nicknamed the ''African crested ...

, and was also a member of the Ghana national team, participating in two Africa Nations Cup tournaments. In 1971, he won the

African Footballer of the Year The African Footballer of the Year award, presented to the best African association football, footballer each year, has been conferred by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) since 1992. Samuel Eto'o and Yaya Touré have won the award the ...

award. He is the first ever African footballer to appear in the Bundesliga.

Club career

Born in

Koforidua Koforidua, also popularly known as K.dua or Koftown and now Kofcity, is a city and the capital of Eastern Region, Ghana, Eastern Region of Ghana. The city has a population of 183,727 people as of 2010. The city is a blend of colonial and moder ...

, Eastern Region, Ghana, Sunday started his career playing for local club

Kumasi Kumasi is a city and the capital of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly and the Ashanti Region of Ghana. It is the second largest city in the country, with a population of 443,981 as of the 2021 census. Kumasi is located in a rain forest region ...

, of which he became the

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

. In 1970, he and his club won the African Cup of Champions, predecessor of the

CAF Champions League The CAF Champions League, known for sponsorship purposes as the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League and formerly the African Cup of Champions Clubs, is an annual football club (association football), club football competition organized by the Conf ...

, the first international title obtained by the club. In 1975, Sunday moved to

Werder Bremen Sportverein Werder Bremen von 1899 e. V. (), commonly known as Werder Bremen, Werder or simply Bremen, is a German professional sports club based in Bremen. Founded on 4 February 1899, Werder are best known for their professional association foo ...

in the

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

, where in two seasons he barely had any playing time, appearing in only one league match against Rot-Weiß Essen on 6 June 1976. This, however, made him the first ever African footballer to appear in the Bundesliga.

International career

Sunday was first named to the Ghana national team in 1966, and his first official international tournament was the 1968 African Cup of Nations, where he scored a goal against Laurent Pokou's

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire and officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital city of Yamoussoukro is located in the centre of the country, while its largest List of ci ...

in the semifinal as Ghana won 4–3. The ''Black Stars'' lost the final to

DR Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

. At the 1970 Nations Cup, there was a rematch of the semifinal from two years before, Ghana again defeated the Ivorians winning 2–1, with Sunday scoring the opening goal. However, they lost in the final again, that time to hosts

Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...

. The 1970 final was Sunday's last Nations Cup match, as Ghana failed to qualify for the 1972, 1974, and 1976 continental tournaments. Ghana then qualified for the 1972 Olympic tournament in Munich, and Sunday was part of the Olympic squad.

Coaching career

As a coach, Sunday managed his former club

, leading them to their second African Cup of Champions victory in

1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

. He also managed Abuakwa Susubiribi and Ashanti Goldfieds of Ghana, FC 105 Libreville of Gabon and Ivorian club Africa Sports of

Abidjan Abidjan ( , ; N'Ko script, N'ko: ߊߓߌߖߊ߲߬) is the largest city and the former capital of Ivory Coast. As of the Demographics of Ivory Coast, 2021 census, Abidjan's population was 6.3 million, which is 21.5 percent of the overall population ...

, whom he also led to the continental title in

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

Honours

Player

Asante Kotoko * Ghana Premier League: 1963–64, 1964–65, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1972, 1975 * African Cup of Champions Clubs:

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...

Ghana *

African Cup of Nations The Africa Cup of Nations, commonly abbreviated as AFCON and officially known as the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, is the main biennial international men's association football competition in Africa. It is s ...

runner up:

1968 Events January–February * January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously. * January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...

Individual *

: 1971

Manager

Asante Kotoko * African Cup of Champions Clubs:

Africa Sports d'Abidjan *

WAFU Club Championship The West African Club Championship (UFOA Cup), also known as the General Eyadéma Cup, was a football tournament for West African clubs from 1977 to 1999. It was open to league runners-up in the West Africa (or ''Zone 3'') region of the CAF. Whil ...

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

* African Cup of Champions Clubs:

CAF Super Cup The CAF Super Cup, known as TotalEnergies CAF Super Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual African association football competition contested between the winners of the CAF Champions League and the CAF Confederation Cup. The competition was f ...

: 1993 Individual * CAF Legends award: 2017

References

External links

Picture of Ibrahim Sunday in Werder Bremen shirt
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sunday, Ibrahim 1944 births Living people People from Koforidua Footballers from Eastern Region (Ghana) Ghanaian men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Ghana men's international footballers African Footballer of the Year winners Bundesliga players Asante Kotoko S.C. players SV Werder Bremen players VSK Osterholz-Scharmbeck players Footballers at the 1968 Summer Olympics Footballers at the 1972 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers for Ghana 1968 African Cup of Nations players 1970 African Cup of Nations players Ghanaian football managers Asante Kotoko S.C. managers Ghanaian expatriate men's footballers Ghanaian expatriate football managers Ghanaian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Germany 20th-century Ghanaian sportsmen