Blast from the Past no.49: Tony Yeboah

“It looks like I picked the wrong day to start curling 25-yard screamers into the top corner,” Carlton Palmer may have muttered to himself, a la Lloyd Bridges in Airplane, as he trudged off the Selhurst Park pitch following a 4-1 win at Wimbledon on 23 September 1995.

The much-maligned midfielder’s best ever goal might have gone down in Leeds United history in different circumstances, but instead it was destined to be forgotten. A mere sideshow to the climax of the most explosive purple patch in football history.

The debate about who is the world’s best player is never-ending. Messi or Ronaldo? Baggio or Romario? Ronaldinho or Zidane? Puskas or Di Stefano?

But between the dates of 19 August and 30 September 1995, there was no discussion to be had. For the duration of those 42 days, no one on the planet came close to matching the lethal finishing power of one 29-year-old Ghanaian. Anthony “Tony” Yeboah was unstoppable.

His hat-trick against Wimbledon in that 4-1 victory was notable for several reasons. It was Yeboah’s 10th goal in 10 games that season, his third hat-trick in 18 games and his fourth goal-of-the-month contender in five weeks.

But most significantly, the second strike in his Selhurst treble - a light-speed half-volley from just outside the box that bounced up and down off the woodwork both before and after crossing the line - was being described by excitable pundits as the “best goal ever”. The last strike to have prompted such hysteria was Yeboah’s stunner against Liverpool the previous month.

“He was a force of nature,” proclaimed one fan on the Dirty Leeds website. “He had a right foot like a traction engine,” beamed another.

Carlton Palmer didn’t stand a chance.

Yeboah’s six-week reign as the world’s best player caught English football somewhat off guard. But contrary to popular belief, he didn’t just drop out of the sky beforehand and then fly away afterwards on a Ghana Airways spaceship.

Signed by Howard Wilkinson from Eintracht Frankfurt for £3.4m in January 1995, the Whites boss later admitted he had “never actually seen him play” and made the purchase purely on the basis of “watching him on Eurosport”.

Wilkinson’s cable TV subscription would have allowed to him to see Yeboah smash in enough Bundesliga goals – 89 in four and a half seasons to be precise – to convince him the African striker could do a job in the Premiership. It proved to be £16.99 a month well spent.

Yeboah made a fine start at Elland Road, scoring 13 times in his first half-season in England as the Whites finished fifth and qualified for the Uefa Cup. But it turned out he was just finding his range.

Keen to adapt to his new surroundings, Yeboah spent the ensuing summer feasting on Yorkshire puddings. “I had no idea what they were, but I loved them!” he later said. Mainly flour, eggs and suet for most of us, but in Tony’s digestive system, they were rocket fuel.

He began the following campaign with both goals in a 2-1 opening-day victory at West Ham, including a thunderous bouncer that Hammers goalkeeper Ludek Miklosko didn’t see until he watched Match of the Day later that evening. A fine finish, but it was the tip of the wonderstrike iceberg.

Two days after his brace at Upton Park (Monday Night Football was a merciless beast back then) Yeboah struck the goal that would secure his legacy.

One moment he was back-pedalling to meet an unremarkable Rod Wallace lay-off 30 yards from goal, the next he had sent an astounding volley scything through the air and in off the woodwork with his WEAKER right foot. At first glance, it was literally unbelievable.

“The second of silence when the ball hit the underside of the crossbar and went in was a moment I will never forget,” recalled one Elland Road attendee.

Most players would dine out on that strike for the rest of their career, and Yeboah has - “I don’t think a goalkeeper in the world can save that. I’m not being disrespectful but what would they do?” he guffawed in 2015 – but he was no one-hit wonder.

In the coming weeks he curled another belter into the top corner while scoring a Uefa Cup hat-trick against Monaco and also added to his tally with a header at Tottenham.

Then came Wimbledon.

The first goal of his hat-trick was a tap-in, the third may have taken a slight deflection. But sandwiched in between them was an iconic powerblaster, preceded by an unorthodox jinking run that included a chest-down, a twist and a nudge off both of his knees. It was that weaker right foot again, causing havoc.

Carlton Palmer also scored.

This wasn’t quite the end of Yeboah’s reign. The following weekend against Sheffield Wednesday, he scored a goal that was almost as good as the previous week’s – bursting past four players before ramming home from 20 yards.

And that was it.

Not completely *it* - Yeboah did notch another eight goals in Leeds colours over the next year or so – but he would stop being the world’s best player as quickly as he became it.

As he fell, he took Leeds down with him. The club could only finish 13th that season. Wilkinson was replaced by George Graham in September 1996 and the Scot had little time for Yeboah’s highlights reel.

A frosty relationship between the pair culminated with Yeboah throwing his shirt at the manager after being hauled off in a defeat at Spurs. He was promptly offloaded to Hamburg, whose fans only saw glimpses of his talent in his four years at the Volksparkstadion.

Yeboah retired in 2002 after a short stint in Qatar, but any Leeds fans with a working VHS recorder can still find moments of comfort in the ‘Yeboah – Shoot to Kill’ video released in the wake of his heroics.

So which was Yeboah’s best strike? After winning goal of the month two months running (not until Gareth Bale came along would anyone match that feat), the BBC plumped for the Wimbledon effort as goal of the season.

But there’s no right or wrong answer to the question. It’s all about personal taste and current mood, like choosing your favourite ‘Now That’s What I Call Music!’ album. For what it’s worth, Tony says he likes the Liverpool goal best.

Now aged 50 and most commonly found manning the front desk at one of his chain of hotels in Ghana, Yeboah remains a Leeds legend. Longevity he may not have given them, but stunning moments of unadulterated joy he supplied by the bucket load.

Carlton Palmer’s goal was pretty good too though, to be fair.

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