Club Career
Born in the Ghanaian capital Accra, Addo began his European career brightly at Club Brugge in 1996 and over three seasons at the Jan Breydelstadion made 65 appearances, scoring five goals. At Brugges, he was viewed as a potential superstar on the European stage, after bursting into the first team ranks and helping them to win the Belgian Championship. He was voted the 1997–98 Young Belgian Footballer of the Year by Belgian journalists and Ghana Player of the Year the same season. He also won the Belgian Ebony Shoe Award for being the best African player (or player with African roots) in the Belgian league. The jury was composed of the league clubs' coaches, the Belgian national team coach, sports journalists and an honorary jury.
Addo joined PSV Eindhoven during summer 1999 for fl.5.9m on a five-year contract, although he spent most of his first three years injured or as a substitute. He played just 24 times during this period, going out on loan at Roda JC for two years – before finally becoming a regular, as PSV retained their Eredivisie title in 2006. "I'm hoping now to show at Roda what I can do," Addo told Dutch magazine Voetbal International. "When I moved to PSV there was a lot of pressure and obviously it got worst when I was injured. They paid a lot of money for me. I still need to show the supporters what I am capable of and the move to Roda is the solution for me."
His last game for PSV in the UEFA Champions League was a 1–0 away loss at Anfield against Liverpool F.C., in the 2006–07 quarterfinal second leg. PSV lost 4–0 on aggregate to the 2005 UEFA Champions League winners, after losing 3–0 at home.
On April 29, 2007, Addo won his fifth Eredivisie Championship with PSV in 2006–2007, with a 5–1, final day home victory against Vitesse Arnhem. Pre-match, PSV, Ajax and AZ Alkmaar were tied on 72 points. PSV coach Ronald Koeman started Alex and Addo at the heart of defence in the decider.
Read more about this topic: Eric Addo
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