Best known for his accomplishments during his career at Ghanaian side, Hearts of Oak, Ishmael Addo has also spent several years in France, Israel, Greece, Cyprus and India.
A diminutive striker with an exceptional turn of pace, Addo’s ability to score goals and demoralise the opposition led to him earning the nickname “Baby-Face Assassin.”
He holds the record of overall top scorer in the history of the Ghanaian League (22 goals in a single season), and is considered to be one of the most talented strikers ever to play in the competition. At some point during his career, Addo was named in FIFA’s top 100 prospects.
Addo started his professional football career with Accra Hearts of Oak in 1998, where he remained played for four seasons, Three of which he finished as the country’s top scorer. During his spell with the club, Addo won the 2000 CAF Champions League and 2001 Super Cup, 4 Ghanaian League championships (1997–98, 1999, 2000, and 2001) and two Ghanaian FA Cups (1999, 2000).
In his final playing year with Hearts of Oak, Addo broke the Ghanaian League season top-scorer record with 22 goals, thus helping his side to win the League and Cup double.
During that same season, Addo scored two late, controversial goals for Hearts of Oak to defeat arch-rivals, Asante Kotoko 2–1, in a match that was marred by the worst stadium disaster ever to take place in Africa.
After an unsuccessful loan spell at French club- SC Bastia- Addo was signed on by Israeli side- Maccabi Netanya- during the summer of 2002. He opened his account for his new club with a hat-trick in a cup game in his second start, and ended up scoring eight goals in 19 league appearances in his debut season.
His second season with Maccabi Netanya did not go as smoothly, as Addo struggled to find the net during a difficult season for the club. His eventual tally of five goals was not enough to save the club from relegation.
Addo had, however, already drawn the attention of Israeli giants- Maccabi Tel Aviv, joining the side in July 2004. Addo made an immediate impact at the start of the new season with a goal on his debut in a 2–1 win against Greek club-PAOK- during the 2004–05 UEFA Champions League third qualifying round.
He went on to feature in all six UEFA Champions League group stage matches, without scoring a goal.
After struggling to establish himself in Maccabi Tel Aviv first team, Addo was loaned out to Greek Super League club, Ergotelis, in January 2005 until the end of the season. He scored his only goal in 15 caps for the club on 20 February, 2005, in a 2–1 victory over reigning champions, Olympiacos. He then moved to Cyprus signing with Cypriot 1st Division side, Enosis Neon Paralimni, but after spending yet another season struggling, he decided to return to Ghana and his first club, Hearts of Oak, in October 2006.
Addo spent the next 2 years at the Ghanaian League powerhouse adding one more Ghanaian League championship to his Palmarès in 2007. He parted ways with Hearts of Oak in 2008 and signed with Indian top flight side, East Bengal, in 2008, joining compatriot- Yusif Yakubu- at the club.
Addo was released from his contract at the end of the season in 2009, after failing to impress the club, who fielded him as a midfielder, despite the fact he had proven to be more efficient as a striker throughout his career.
After spending the next two years without a club, Addo had a short stint with newly promoted Ghanaian Premier League side, Wassaman United. He left the eventually relegated club in 2011 and has once again been unattached until January 2015, when he signed with second-tier Ghanaian club, Eleven Wonders.
By Gottlieb Baako
