1. Suleyman Ali "Sulley" Muntari was born on 27 August 1984 and is a Ghanaian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder.
54 Facts About Sulley Muntari
1. 2.
Sulley Muntari spent most of his career in Italy, playing for clubs such as Udinese, Inter Milan, and AC Milan.
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Sulley Muntari featured in over 150 matches for Udinese and scored 9 goals before securing a move to join English team Portsmouth then English Premier League.
4.
Sulley Muntari was a member of the Ghana U20 team that placed second in the African Youth Championship and FIFA U-20 World Cup both in 2001.
5.
Sulley Muntari is the elder brother of former Tambov player Sulley Muniru.
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Sulley Muntari became a regular member of Ghana under-20 team at the age of 16 as they finished runners-up at the 2001 FIFA World Youth Championship in Argentina, losing out to the hosts in the final.
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Sulley Muntari joined Udinese in 2001, where his first season was spent in the reserves.
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Sulley Muntari made his first-team debut on 6 November 2002, against Milan.
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Sulley Muntari left Udinese for Portsmouth after five seasons in Italy.
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Sulley Muntari had already indicated a desire to move to the English Premier League, when in early 2007 transfer bids were received from Portsmouth.
11.
Sulley Muntari scored the seventh goal of the match from the penalty spot in stoppage time after Kranjcar was fouled by Rosenior.
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Sulley Muntari scored against his Ghanaian compatriot Richard Kingson, who was making his Premier League debut in goal for the Blues.
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Sulley Muntari's winner led to their progress into the semi-finals.
14.
Sulley Muntari was in the starting XI that won the 2008 FA Cup Final at Wembley Stadium over Cardiff City.
15.
Sulley Muntari left Fratton Park after one season to join Internazionale.
16.
Transfer consultants Marco Branca and Gabriele Oriali were looking around Europe for possible options and Sulley Muntari seemed to be their man at the insistence of coach Roberto Mancini, although Sulley Muntari ultimately went to Portsmouth in the summer of 2007.
17.
On 21 July 2008 Italian newspaper La Repubblica reported that with the probable failure of new Inter coach Jose Mourinho to land his former Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard, Sulley Muntari was now his top target central midfield target.
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The reports gathered pace in the Italian press in the next few days that Sulley Muntari had already agreed a four-year contract with Inter.
19.
Sulley Muntari finally completed his move to Inter on 28 July 2008 and wore the number 20 jersey, previously worn by Alvaro Recoba for many years.
20.
On 22 November 2008, Sulley Muntari scored the winner, redirecting a wayward Zlatan Ibrahimovic shot, in the Derby d'Italia against rivals Juventus.
21.
Sulley Muntari played in all of Inter Milan's Coppa Italia matches that season, as the club won the competition for the sixth time in its history.
22.
Sulley Muntari became the fourth Ghanaian to win the Champions League.
23.
Across all competitions that season, Sulley Muntari made 42 appearances and played a significant role in securing the treble.
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Sulley Muntari came on as a substitute in four of their first five games of the season.
25.
Sulley Muntari refused to sit in the stands to watch the game and instead went home after learning he had not been selected for the match-day squad.
26.
On 15 January 2011, Inter Technical Director Marco Branca confirmed Sulley Muntari had handed in an official transfer request.
27.
On 31 January 2012, Sulley Muntari joined AC Milan on loan.
28.
Sulley Muntari officially signed for Milan on a free transfer after his Inter contract expired on 1 July 2012.
29.
On 20 February 2013, Sulley Muntari scored a goal to give Milan a two-goal lead against Barcelona ahead of the second leg in the last 16 tie in the UEFA Champions League.
30.
Sulley Muntari was then sent off the following match against former club Inter when he hit Zdravko Kuzmanovic, receiving a three-match ban.
31.
On 18 June 2014, Sulley Muntari signed a new two-year contract with Milan.
32.
Sulley Muntari was released by mutual consent on 30 June 2015.
33.
On 27 July 2015, Sulley Muntari joined Saudi league team Ittihad FC on a two-year deal.
34.
On 30 April 2017, Sulley Muntari left a Serie A match at Cagliari after his complaints of racist abuse were met with a yellow card.
35.
Sulley Muntari was given the number 21 jersey which was previously won by the club's legend Juan Carlos Valeron.
36.
On 31 January 2019, after six months of inactivity Sulley Muntari signed with Albacete until the end of the season.
37.
Sulley Muntari revealed that he signed with the Accra-based team because his son asked him to do so, so that he could come to the stadium and watch him play.
38.
Sulley Muntari was given the number 10 jersey after Hearts petitioned the Ghana Football Association after Emmanuel Nettey has worn that jersey number in the first half of the season, prior to his transfer.
39.
When Sulley Muntari was taken off in the 80th minute, he was given a standing ovation and received applause from both RTU and Hearts supporters.
40.
Sulley Muntari scored from the penalty spot after Patrick Razak was fouled in the box.
41.
Sulley Muntari then was chosen for the 2001 FIFA World Youth Championship as Ghana took second place.
42.
Sulley Muntari won his first senior cap against Slovenia on 17 May 2002, and became a regular fixture in the team as The Black Stars opened their 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign.
43.
Sulley Muntari was selected for the Olympic side at Athens 2004, but was sent home for disciplinary reasons.
44.
Sulley Muntari retracted, making a public apology to the Association, and was selected for the 2006 World Cup squad.
45.
Sulley Muntari was suspended for the game against the United States, but returned for the second round match against Brazil, in which Ghana was eliminated.
46.
Sulley Muntari remained a regular member of the team, and appeared in the 2008 African Cup of Nations side, scoring the winner in the first group match against Guinea and the second goal in the last group match against Morocco.
47.
Sulley Muntari scored his third goal of the tournament when he scored a free-kick against Ivory Coast in the third-place play-off.
48.
Sulley Muntari was voted as an All-Star Player during the 2008 African Cup of Nations Tournament in Ghana.
49.
Sulley Muntari later issued a full apology to his country and coach.
50.
On 2 June 2014, Sulley Muntari was named in Ghana's squad for the 2014 World Cup.
51.
Sulley Muntari reportedly assaulted Moses Armah, a member of former manager James Kwesi Appiah's coaching staff.
52.
Sulley Muntari possesses a good left-foot, a powerful shot from outside the area, and is a solid passer of the ball.
53.
Sulley Muntari primarily excels as a ball-winner, due to his energy, tactical intelligence, and ability to break down the opposition's play; a versatile footballer, although he is usually deployed as a defensive, central, or box-to-box midfielder, he is capable of playing as a left winger or even as an attacking midfielder.
54.
In December 2010, Sulley Muntari married Ghanaian businesswoman Menaye Donkor and they have a son.