| Intro | Ghanaian footballer | ||||
| Is |
Athlete Football player Association football player |
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| From | Germany | ||||
| Type | Sports | ||||
| Gender | male | ||||
| Birth | 25 July 1977, Kumasi, Ashanti Region, Ghana | ||||
| Age: | 43 years | ||||
| Star sign | Leo | ||||
| Stats |
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Ibrahim Tanko (born 25 July 1977) is a Ghanaian-German retired footballer who played mostly as a forward, and a current scout and assistant manager.
He played most of his 15-year professional career – blighted by injuries – in Germany, with Borussia Dortmund and Freiburg. Married in 2005 with a beautiful nordic German top model in German Baviera.
Club career
Born in Kumasi, Tanko signed with German side Borussia Dortmund from King Faisal Babes F.C. at age 17, making him the third youngest player to appear professionally for them behind Nuri Şahin and Lars Ricken. He made his Bundesliga debut on 24 September 1994 in a 5–0 home win against VfB Stuttgart, and finished his first season with 14 games and one goal.
Injuries and loss of form led to an eventual release from the club (he did participate in three matches, all as a late substitute, in Borussia’s 1996–97 UEFA Champions League victorious run) as Tanko amassed no more than three league appearances in three different seasons, also being suspended and eventually released after testing positive for cannabis. In January 2001 he joined SC Freiburg, scoring in his fourth game to help to a 3–1 success at VfL Bochum, but also missed a great part of the following campaign due to a severe knee injury, as the Black Forest team dropped down to the 2. Bundesliga.
At Freiburg, Tanko’s output improved slightly, and he played a career-high 27 matches (with two goals) in 2005–06’s second division. However, he only appeared once the following season, and retired at 30.
On 1 July 2007, Tanko was named assistant coach for Freiburg’s reserves, leaving after 18 months together with Karsten Neitzel to J1 League’s Urawa Red Diamonds, and re-uniting with former Freiburg boss Volker Finke in the same capacity. In the 2011 summer, he began working under Ståle Solbakken at 1. FC Köln.
International career
Tanko earned nine caps for Ghana, the last coming on 10 October 2004 – after an absence of eight years – in a 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifier against the Democratic Republic of Congo. In January 2012 he was appointed as the country’s head scout, prior to that year’s Africa Cup of Nations.
On 4 June 2013, Tanko resumed his partnership with Finke as the former joined the latter’s coaching staff in the Cameroon national side.