John Paintsil

John Paintsil
John Paintsil.JPG
Personal information
Full name John Paintsil
Date of birth 15 June 1981 (1981-06-15) (age 29)
Place of birth Berekum, Ghana
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Playing position Right Back
Club information
Current club Fulham
Number 4
Youth career
1997–1999 Berekum Arsenal
Senior career*
Years Team Apps† (Gls)†
1999–2000 Berekum Arsenal
2000–2001 Liberty Professionals 10 (0)
2001–2002 Berekum Arsenal 12 (1)
2002 Widzew Łódź 19 (1)
2002–2004 Maccabi Tel Aviv 46 (0)
2004–2006 Hapoel Tel Aviv 46 (4)
2006–2008 West Ham United 19 (0)
2008–present Fulham 59 (0)
National team‡
2001– Ghana 60 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 16:55, 12 May 2010 (UTC).

† Appearances (Goals).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 06:40, 3 July 2010 (UTC)

John Paintsil (born 15 June 1981 in Berekum) is a Ghanaian footballer, who currently plays for Fulham. His name family name is Paintsil but at birth, it was registered as Pantsil. This then appeared on his passport and his registration with the Premier League.[1]

Contents

Background

A player comfortable at the full back or midfield position, Paintsil had stints in his native Ghana with Berekum Arsenal and Liberty Professionals and a brief spell with Polish side Widzew Łódź before moving to Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv in 2002.

Club career

Maccabi Tel Aviv

Paintsil joined Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv in 2002, where he was a member of the team that won both the Israeli title and reached the Cup semi-final.[2] He made 46 league appearances[3] and five appearances in the Champions League.

Hapoel Tel Aviv

In December 2004, he transferred to rivals Hapoel Tel Aviv[4] helping them to second place in the league in 2006[2] and to win the Israeli State Cup in May 2006.[5] He made 42 appearances for Hapoel, scoring three goals.[3]

West Ham United

After the 2006 World Cup, Israeli international Yossi Benayoun recommended Paintsil to West Ham United manager Alan Pardew as the Premier League club were in need of a right-back.[4] Pardew took Pantsil with the rest of the squad on their pre-season tour of Sweden and he featured in the matches out there putting in some impressive performances.[6] In August 2006, West Ham completed the signing of Paintsil after a work permit was granted.[7] Paintsil was given the number 14 shirt at West Ham and competed for a place in the side with English Tyrone Mears and American Jonathan Spector.

He made only five appearances for West Ham during the 2006/07 season and in the summer of 2007 was weighing up his options in order to ensure his place in the Ghana national team for the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations.[8] However, the defender remained at West Ham United and in July 2008, with the majority of his 24 games for West Ham being substitute appearances, Paintsil was given permission to speak to Fulham with a view to a move.

Fulham

On 15 July 2008, Paintsil and team mate Bobby Zamora completed their move to Fulham for a combined transfer fee of £6.3 million.[9] He became a first team regular during the 2008-09 season, helping the Cottagers to a record seventh place finish. His energy, enthusiasm and popular laps of honour at the end of matches meant he quickly emerged as a fans favourite. His performances improved as the season progressed and he has retained a regular starting place in the 2009/10 season.

International career

Paintsil was a member of the Ghana Under 21 team who were runner-up in the FIFA World Youth Championship in Argentina in 2001 and played for the senior team in the African Cup of Nations in Mali in 2002 and Egypt in 2006.[4] He was also a member of the Ghana 2004 Olympics football team who exited in the first round in Greece, having finished in third place in Group B. Paintsil played in all the matches of Ghana's national team in the 2006 World Cup finals, where Ghana were beaten by Brazil in the second round.[4]

Following the first and second goals in Ghana's 2–0 victory over the Czech Republic on 17 June 2006, he celebrated by waving an Israeli flag, he also waved as the final whistle blew. This action provoked some protests in his native country Ghana and the Arab world.[10] Afterwards the Ghanaian Football Association issued an apology, and said of Pantsil "He was naive".[11] He was a member of the Ghanaian 2010 World Cup team that reached the quarter-finals in South Africa before losing to Uruguay.[12] He played in all five games. On June 13, 2010, in a World Cup group-stage match against Serbia, another variation of his name appeared on his jersey, Panstil.[13]

Personal life

Paintsil's family has reportedly received repeated threats to their lives in Ghana. His younger brother Mark fled to Israel on a tourist visa. His visa expired and he was jailed whilst applying for political asylum pending immigration status decisions. According to Mark, the rest of the family is in Britain and cannot go back to Ghana. He was quoted as saying "I cannot return to Ghana because I truly fear for my life. My sister, after returning to Ghana, joined my brother and parents in London immediately, and now I am in prison and there is nothing I can do."[14]

Honours

Fulham

Ghana

References

  1. ↑ "Fulham's John Pantsil reveals secret life playing for Arsenal". People.co.uk. 2009-01-18. http://www.people.co.uk/sport/football/news/2009/01/18/fulham-s-john-pantsil-reveals-secret-life-playing-for-arsenal-93463-21050994/. Retrieved 2010-06-27. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Player Profile: John Pantsil, Ghanaweb.com. Retrieved 22 June 2007.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Soccerbase: John Pantsil, Racing Post. Retrieved 22 June 2007.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Player Profiles: John Pantsil, West Ham United Official Site. Retrieved 22 June 2007.
  5. ↑ Player Profile: John Paintsil, Sky Sports. Retrieved 22 June 2007.
  6. ↑ '""Hammers happy with Paintsil", Sky Sports, 26 Jul 2006. Retrieved 22 June 2007.
  7. ↑ "Hammer Paintsil nets work permit", BBC Sport, 9 August 2006. Retrieved 22 June 2007.
  8. ↑ "West Ham's Pantsil eyeing exit", BBC Sport, 22 June 2007. Retrieved 22 June 2007.
  9. ↑ "Zamora & Pantsil sign for Fulham". BBC Sport. 2008-07-15. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/f/fulham/7498636.stm. Retrieved 2008-07-15. 
  10. ↑ "Fury in Egypt over Ghana's Israeli flag waver", Ynetnews, 19 June 2006. Retrieved 22 June 2007.
  11. ↑ "Apology follows Paintsil gesture", BBC Sport, 19 June 2006. Retrieved 22 June 2007.
  12. ↑ "World-Tearful Ghana rue last-gasp penalty drama". Fourfourtwo.com. 2009-07-02. http://fourfourtwo.com/news/worldcup2010/59307/default.aspx. Retrieved 2010-07-03. 
  13. ↑ "Fawzi Chaouchi is England's new No.1, Marcel Desailly 1 Big Ron Atkinson 0 and Milan Jovanovic is Rafa's Benitez's revenge on Liverpool: Top 10 things we learned from the World Cup today, Sunday June 13". MirrorFootball.co.uk. http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/opinion/blogs/2010-world-cup-blog/Fawzi-Chaouchi-is-England-s-new-No-1-Marcel-Desailly-1-Big-Ron-Atkinson-0-and-Milan-Jovanovic-is-Rafa-s-Benitez-s-revenge-on-Liverpool-Top-10-things-we-learned-from-the-World-Cup-today-Sunday-June-13-article464643.html. Retrieved 2010-06-27. 
  14. ↑ "Ynet News. Israel jails brother of Ghanaian soccer player. Published 23 June 2010, accessed 23 June 2010". Ynetnews.com. 1995-06-20. http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3909811,00.html. Retrieved 2010-06-27. 

External links

Fulham F.C. – current squad

1 Schwarzer · 2 Kelly · 3 Salcido · 4 Pantsil · 5 Hangeland · 6 Baird · 8 A. Johnson · 11 Gera · 12 Stockdale · 13 Murphy · 14 Senderos · 15 Kamara · 16 Duff · 17 Riise · 18 A. Hughes · 19 Zuberbühler · 20 Etuhu · 21 E. Johnson · 22 Stoor · 23 Dempsey · 25 Zamora · 26 Dikgacoi · 27 Greening · 29 Davies · 30 Dembélé · 32 Halliche · 35 Elm · — Milsom · Manager: M. Hughes