View source for Yaw Preko

{{short description|Ghanaian footballer}}
{{update|part=career information|date=April 2018}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2021}}
{{Infobox football biography
| name = Yaw Preko
| fullname = <!-- if different -->
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1974|09|08}}
| birth_place = [[Ghana]]
| height = {{convert|1.80|m|ftin|abbr=on}}
| position = [[Forward (association football)#Striker|Forward]]
| currentclub = [[Ghana national under-20 football team|Ghana U20]] (Manager)
| youthyears1 =
| youthclubs1 =
| years1 =   1991–1992
| years2 =  1992–1997
| years3 =  1997–1999
| years4 =  1999–2000
| years5 =  2000–2002
| years6 =  2002–2004
| years7 =  2004–2005
| years8 =  2005–2007
| years9 =  2007
|  clubs1 = [[Accra Hearts of Oak SC|Hearts of Oak]]
| clubs2 =  [[R.S.C. Anderlecht|Anderlecht]]
| clubs3 =  [[Gaziantepspor]]
| clubs4 =  [[Fenerbahçe S.K. (football)|Fenerbahçe]]
| clubs5 =  [[Yimpaş Yozgatspor]]
| clubs6 =  [[Gaziantepspor]]
| clubs7 =  [[Halmstads BK|Halmstad]]
| clubs8 =  [[Ettifaq FC|Al-Ettifaq]]
| clubs9 =  [[Hoang Anh Gia Lai F.C.|Hoang Anh Gia Lai]]
| caps1 =      31
| caps2 =    92
| caps3 =    58
| caps4 =    22
| caps5 =    55
| caps6 =    4
| caps7 =    49
| caps8 =    2
| caps9 =    2
| goals1 =  9
| goals2 =  27
| goals3 =  16
| goals4 =  7
| goals5 =  21
| goals6 =  3
| goals7 =  11
| goals8 =  1
| goals9 =  0
| nationalyears1 =   1992–2001
| nationalteam1 =   [[Ghana national football team|Ghana]]
| nationalcaps1 =   26
| nationalgoals1 =   7
| manageryears1 = 2012–2013
| managerclubs1 = [[Ghana national under-20 football team|Ghana U20]] (assistant)
| manageryears2 = 2015–2016
| managerclubs2 = [[Accra Hearts of Oak SC|Hearts of Oak]] (assistant)
| manageryears3 = 2016
| managerclubs3 = [[Accra Hearts of Oak SC|Hearts of Oak]] (caretaker)
| manageryears4 = 2016
| managerclubs4 = [[Ifeanyi Ubah F.C.|Ifeanyi Ubah]] (assistant)
| manageryears5 = 2016–2017
| managerclubs5 = [[Ifeanyi Ubah F.C.|Ifeanyi Ubah]]
| manageryears6 = 2018–2019
| managerclubs6 = [[Ghana national under-17 football team|Ghana U17]] (assistant)
| manageryears7 = 2019
| managerclubs7 = Kings Palace FC (assistant)
| manageryears8 = 2019–
| managerclubs8 = [[Ghana national under-20 football team|Ghana U20]]
}}
{{MedalTableTop|name=no|medals=
{{MedalSport | Men's [[association football]] }}
{{MedalCountry | {{GHA}} }}
{{MedalCompetition | [[Football at the Summer Olympics|Olympic Games]] }}
{{MedalBronze | [[Football at the 1992 Summer Olympics|1992 Barcelona]] | [[Football at the 1992 Summer Olympics – Men's team squads#Ghana|Team competition]] }}
}}

'''Yaw Preko''' (born 8 September 1974 in [[Accra]]) is a former [[soccer|football]] [[Forward (association football)#Striker|striker]] from [[Ghana]]. He is currently the manager of [[Ghana national under-20 football team|Ghana U20]].

== Career ==
His career started in Powerlines, a small Ghanaian club, and his first European club was [[R.S.C. Anderlecht]] where he became Belgian champion three times. He played in Turkey from 1997 to 2004 before joining [[Halmstads BK]] in the [[Allsvenskan]]. He then left Halmstads BK in 2005 as the club did not renew his contract, he signed for Saudi Arabian team [[Al-Ettifaq]]<ref>[http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/SportsArchive/artikel.php?ID=96944 TRANSFERS: Window Closed!]</ref> and stayed with them for almost 2 years and then signed for [[Hoang Anh Gia Lai F.C.|HAGL]] in the Vietnamese [[Vietnamese Super League|V-League]], which he left after one season. A free agent, Preko subsequently announced his interest of returning home to the Ghanaian league.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.modernghana.com/news/176530/1/yaw-preko-hints-at-returning-to-local-league.html |title=Yaw Preko hints at returning to local league |date=31 July 2008 |access-date=2008-10-21 |publisher=Modernghana.com}}</ref>

== International ==
He has played 68 international matches for the [[Ghana national football team|Ghana national team]], and was a member of the team that won the bronze medal at the [[1992 Summer Olympics]] in [[Barcelona]].

==Coaching career==
From December 2012 to July 2013, Preko was the assistant manager of [[Ghana national under-20 football team|Ghana's U20 national team]].<ref>[https://tv.ghanasoccernet.com/former-ghana-u20-assistant-coach-yaw-preko-owed-us-7000-by-ghana-fa Former Ghana U20 assistant coach Yaw Preko owed US$ 7,000 by Ghana FA], ghanasoccernet.com, 9 January 2014</ref> In October 2015, he became assistant manager under [[Kenichi Yatsuhashi]].<ref>[https://www.modernghana.com/sports/652794/kenichis-diary-three-reasons-why-hearts-new-man-could-be.html Kenichi's Diary: Three reasons why Hearts' new man could be a hit], modernghana.com, 30 October 2015</ref> On 30 October 2016, he was appointed caretaker manager replacing Sergio Traguil.<ref>[https://www.modernghana.com/news/716243/hearts-interim-coach-yaw-preko-takes-charge-of-first-trainin.html Hearts interim coach Yaw Preko takes charge of first training session], modernghana.com, 31 August 2016</ref> However, the club decided to appoint a new manager at the end of October 2018 and two weeks later, he was reunited with [[Kenichi Yatsuhashi]] at Nigerian club [[Ifeanyi Ubah F.C.|Ifeanyi Ubah]] still as assistant manager. Yatsuhashi was sacked already sacked on 12 December 2016 and once again, Preko took over as a caretaker manager and later permanent manager.<ref>[http://kessbenfm.com/kenichi-yatsuhashi-sacked-coach-ifeanyi-ubah/ Kenichi Yatsuhashi sacked as coach of Ifeanyi Ubah], kessbenfm.com, 12 December 2016</ref> In January 2018, he was appointed assistant manager for [[Ghana national under-17 football team|Ghana's U17 national team]].<ref>[https://ghanasportsonline.com/2018/01/former-hearts-assistant-yaw-preko-re-assigned-ghana-u17-deputy-coach/ Former Hearts Assistant Yaw Preko Re-Assigned As Ghana U17 Deputy Coach], ghanasportsonline.com, 30 January 2018</ref>

In April 2019, he was appointed assistant manager of Ghanaian club Kings Palace FC, again under [[Kenichi Yatsuhashi]].<ref>[http://sportsfileghana.com/2019/04/13/kenichi-yatsuhashi-former-hearts-coach-takes-over-kings-palace-fc/ Kenichi Yatsuhashi: Former Hearts coach takes over Kings Palace FC], sportsfileghana.com, 13 April 2019</ref> In June 2019, he was appointed manager of [[Ghana national under-20 football team|Ghana's U20 national team]].<ref>[https://ghanasoccernet.com/yaw-preko-appointed-ghana-u20-coach-george-lamptey-as-assistant-reports Yaw Preko appointed Ghana U20 coach; George Lamptey as assistant- reports], ghanasoccernet.com, 4 June 2019</ref>

==Career Statistics==
===International===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+ Appearances and goals by national team and year<ref name="nft">{{NFT player|11348|access-date=22 October 2024}}</ref>
|-
!National team!!Year!!Apps!!Goals
|-
|rowspan="10"|[[Ghana national football team|Ghana]]
|1991||1||0
|-
|1993||1||0
|-
|1994||2||3
|-
|1995||4||0
|-
|1996||3||0
|-
|1997||3||0
|-
|1998||1||0
|-
|1999||3||3
|-
|2000||5||1
|-
|2001||3||0
|-
!colspan="2"|Total
!26!!7
|}

:''Scores and results list Ghana's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Preko goal.''

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ List of international goals scored by Yaw Preko
|-
!scope="col"|No.
!scope="col"|Date
!scope="col"|Venue
!scope="col"|Opponent
!scope="col"|Score
!scope="col"|Result
!scope="col"|Competition
!scope="col" class="unsortable"|{{Abbr|Ref.|Reference}}
|-
|style="text-align:center"|1
|rowspan="3"|{{dts|16 October 1994}}
|rowspan="3"|[[Stade Général Seyni Kountché]], [[Niamey]], Niger
|rowspan="3"|{{fb|Niger}}
|style="text-align:center"|1–0
|rowspan="3" style="text-align:center"|5–1
|rowspan="3"|[[1996 African Cup of Nations qualification]]
|rowspan="3"|<ref>{{Cite web|title=Niger vs. Ghana|url=https://www.national-football-teams.com/matches/report/28104/Niger_Ghana.html|website=National Football Team|access-date=22 October 2024}}</ref>
|-
|style="text-align:center"|2
|style="text-align:center"|2–1
|-
|style="text-align:center"|3
|style="text-align:center"|5–1
|-
|style="text-align:center"|4
|rowspan="3"|{{dts|28 February 1999}}
|rowspan="3"|[[Accra Sports Stadium]], [[Accra]], Ghana
|rowspan="3"|{{fb|Eritrea}}
|style="text-align:center"|2–0
|rowspan="3" style="text-align:center"|5–0
|rowspan="3"|[[2000 Africa Cup of Nations qualification]]
|rowspan="3"|<ref>{{Cite web|title=Ghana vs. Eritrea|url=https://www.national-football-teams.com/matches/report/23751/Ghana_Eritrea.html|website=National Football Team|access-date=22 October 2024}}</ref>
|-
|style="text-align:center"|5
|style="text-align:center"|3–0
|-
|style="text-align:center"|6
|style="text-align:center"|5–0
|-
|style="text-align:center"|7
|{{dts|9 July 2000}}
|Accra Sports Stadium, Accra, Ghana	
|{{fb|Sierra Leone}}
|style="text-align:center"|4–0
|style="text-align:center"|5–0
|[[2002 FIFA World Cup qualification (CAF)|2002 FIFA World Cup qualification]]
|<ref>{{Cite web|title=Ghana vs. Sierra Leone|url=https://www.national-football-teams.com/matches/report/22677/Ghana_Sierra_Leone.html|website=National Football Team|access-date=22 October 2024}}</ref>
|}
==References==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{NFT player|pid=11348}}
* [http://www.svenskfotboll.se/t3allpl.aspx?p=287489&playerid=3815 Yaw Preko swedish FA profile]
* [http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/soccer/artikel.php?ID=120019 Yaw Preko to play in Vietnam]
* [http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/soccer/pop-up.php?ID=21 Yaw Preko profile]
* {{Olympedia}}
* {{Olympics.com profile|yaw-preko}}

{{Ghana Squad 1992 Africa Cup of Nations}}
{{Ghana Squad 1992 Summer Olympics}}
{{Ghana Squad 1996 Africa Cup of Nations}}
{{Ghana Squad 2000 Africa Cup of Nations}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Preko, Yaw}}
[[Category:1974 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Ghanaian men's footballers]]
[[Category:Ghana men's international footballers]]
[[Category:Ghanaian expatriate men's footballers]]
[[Category:Olympic footballers for Ghana]]
[[Category:Allsvenskan players]]
[[Category:R.S.C. Anderlecht players]]
[[Category:Fenerbahçe S.K. footballers]]
[[Category:Gaziantepspor footballers]]
[[Category:Yozgatspor footballers]]
[[Category:Halmstads BK players]]
[[Category:Accra Hearts of Oak S.C. players]]
[[Category:Olympic bronze medalists for Ghana]]
[[Category:Footballers at the 1992 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Footballers from Accra]]
[[Category:Ghanaian expatriate sportspeople in Belgium]]
[[Category:Ghanaian expatriate sportspeople in Vietnam]]
[[Category:Ghanaian expatriate sportspeople in Sweden]]
[[Category:Ghanaian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey]]
[[Category:Ghanaian expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia]]
[[Category:Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey]]
[[Category:Expatriate men's footballers in Sweden]]
[[Category:Expatriate men's footballers in Vietnam]]
[[Category:Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium]]
[[Category:Süper Lig players]]
[[Category:Belgian Pro League players]]
[[Category:1992 African Cup of Nations players]]
[[Category:1996 African Cup of Nations players]]
[[Category:2000 African Cup of Nations players]]
[[Category:Olympic medalists in football]]
[[Category:Al-Ettifaq FC players]]
[[Category:Hoang Anh Gia Lai FC players]]
[[Category:V.League 1 players]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Men's association football forwards]]
[[Category:Saudi Pro League players]]
[[Category:Accra Great Olympics F.C. managers]]
[[Category:Ghana Premier League managers]]