Stephen Leroy Appiah (/ˈæpiɑː/ AP-ee-ah; born 24 December 1980) is a Ghanaian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder.

[3] He went on to enjoy a good first season for Juventus, playing in 30 Serie A games and appearing in the Coppa Italia final.

In January 2007, he was injured during the international duty with the Black Stars and he delayed the operation on his left knee until end of season.

[5] The long-term injury forced him to miss the 2008 African Cup of Nations as a player, instead, he became a special adviser of the team.

[5] On 1 February 2008, Appiah formally submitted a claim of mistreatment by asking to leave as free agent on 1 July 2008 and received the pre-agreed 2008–09 season salary of €2 million.

The following month Appiah underwent a trial at Rubin Kazan,[citation needed] but the Russian champions decided against signing the player because of the same fitness concerns.

[11] On 2 February 2012, after passing medical exams, Appiah signed a six-month deal with Serbian side Vojvodina.

[12] Along with Almami Moreira and Aleksandar Katai, he was the main winter-break signing of Vojvodina in order to challenge Belgrade clubs dominance and guarantee a European competition place.

It featured The Black Stars against Appiah XI, which cumulated former international footballers including; Giuseppe Colucci, Richard Kingson, George Boateng, Sammy Adjei, Samuel Eto'o, Baffour Gyan and Emmanuel Adebayor.

[19][16] Religious leaders including the national chief Imam of Ghana Sheik Osman Nuhu Sharabutu and Rev.

[20] Prior to the testimonial, a special dinner and fundraising was held on the 26 June at the State Banquet Hall, Accra.

He scored twice in that short stint in Athens, shining in all three group games, running the attacking department in spectacular fashion.

On 22 August 2010, following Ghana's World Cup record quarter-final finish, Appiah announced his retirement from the national team at the age of 29.

[28] Appiah was a talented, tenacious, and physically strong, all-round box-to-box midfielder, who was capable of defending well, as well as orchestrating attacks, creating chances for teammates, and even scoring goals himself, due to his vision, technique, aggressive tackling, athletic attributes, stamina, and his powerful and accurate shot from distance with his right foot.

[29][30][31][32][33][34] A versatile, powerful, and hard-working player, he was capable of playing anywhere in midfield, and adapting himself to several different formations, but usually operated in the centre of the pitch.

[35][36] Appiah has designed a clothing line named StepApp that was released in late November 2007 in his hometown of Accra.