Adam Larsen Kwarasey

Adam Larsen Kwarasey
Personal information
Full name Adambathia Larsen Kwarasey[1]
Date of birth (1987-12-12) 12 December 1987
Place of birth Oslo, Norway
Height 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)[2]
Playing position Goalkeeper
Club information
Current team
 Portland Timbers
Number 12
Youth career
Trosterud
2006–2007 Vålerenga
Senior career*
Years Team Apps† (Gls)†
2007–2014 Strømsgodset 154 (0)
2015– Portland Timbers 40 (0)
National team‡
2008 Norway U21 1 (0)
2011– Ghana[3] 22 (0)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 5 August 2015.
† Appearances (goals)

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 27 July 2015

Adambathia Larsen "Adam" Kwarasey (born 12 December 1987) is a Ghanaian international footballer who plays professionally for MLS club Portland Timbers, as a goalkeeper.

Kwarasey was born and grew up in Norway, and he chose to represent his father's country, Ghana at international level.

Early and personal life

Kwarasey was born in Oslo, Norway to a father from Ghana and a mother from Norway.[4] He holds both Ghanaian and Norwegian passports.[5]

Club career

Strømsgodset

Kwarasey played youth football with Trosterud and Vålerenga.[6] After moving to Strømsgodset, he made his debut on 6 May 2007.[6] Kwarasey was the captain of the club when Strømsgodset in 2013 won Tippeligaen for the first time since 1970.[7] He also won the Kniksen Award as the best goalkeeper in the 2013 season.[8]

Kwarasey announced on 31 October 2014 that he would leave Strømsgodset after the 2014 season, when his contract expired.[9]

Portland Timbers

Kwarasey signed for Major League Soccer club Portland Timbers in December 2014.[10][11] In the knockout round of MLS Cup 2015 against Sporting Kansas City Kwarasey scored a penalty then saved his opposite number Jon Kempin's shot to help his team win the shootout and advance to the next round.[12]

International career

In November 2007, Kwarasey declared that he would play international football for Ghana.[13] However, he played a friendly match for Norway under-21 in 2008.[14]

In October 2010, Kwarasey received his Ghanaian passport and became eligible to play for Ghana.[15] On 30 July 2011, Kwarasey was called up to the Ghana national team for a match against Nigeria.[16] That match was postponed due to security reasons,[17] although Kwarasey confirmed his intention to become Ghana's first-choice goalkeeper.[18]

He made his international debut for Ghana on 2 September 2011 in an 2012 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Swaziland,[19] before playing in a friendly match against Brazil at Craven Cottage in London three days later.[20]

Kwarasey was named to Ghana's 23-man squad for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations.[21] He was the team's first choice goalkeeper throughout the tournament, as the Black Stars finished in fourth place.[22]

He made two appearances for the Black Stars during their successful 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign, serving as understudy to Fatau Dauda.[23]

On 2 June 2014, Kwarasey was named in Ghana's squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup.[24] He started in goal for the Black Stars in the team's opening match, a 2–1 defeat by the United States in Natal.[25] After his team defeat he planned to quit playing with Black Stars.[26] In August 2014 he was dropped from the national team.[27]

Career statistics

As of 7 December 2015[28][29]
Club Season Division League Cup Europe Total
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Strømsgodset 2007 Tippeligaen 40100050
2008 40300070
2009 40200060
2010 2907100360
2011 2804020340
2012 2903030320
2013 3001000310
2014 2602020300
Total 1540231701841
Portland Timbers 2015 MLS 3302000350
2016 30000030
Total 3302000350
Career total 1870252702191

Honours

Club

Strømsgodset
Portland Timbers

Individual

References

  1. ↑ "2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil: List of Players" (PDF). FIFA. 11 June 2014. p. 17. Retrieved 11 June 2014.
  2. ↑ Adam Larsen Kwarasey profile at Soccerway
  3. ↑ Adam Larsen Kwarasey at National-Football-Teams.com
  4. ↑ Sannie, Ibrahim (6 November 2007). "Norwegian keeper opts for Ghana". BBC Sport. BBC. Archived from the original on 29 September 2013. Retrieved 19 May 2012.
  5. ↑ Jacobsen, Kristin Estil (19 January 2012). "Mener Kwarasey er mer attraktiv med EU-pass". vg.no (in Norwegian). Verdens Gang. Archived from the original on 13 January 2014. Retrieved 19 May 2012.
  6. 1 2 "Profile" (in Norwegian). Strømsgodset IF. Archived from the original on 21 July 2014.
  7. ↑ Hoel, Yasmin Sunde; Bentsen, Anders Rove (10 October 2013). "Deila gråt i bilen på vei til gullkampen". NRK (in Norwegian). Archived from the original on 8 January 2014. Retrieved 17 December 2013.
  8. ↑ Syversen, Christina Paulos (10 October 2013). "Strømsgodset i et ekslusivt selskap". Nettavisen (in Norwegian). Archived from the original on 13 November 2013. Retrieved 17 December 2013.
  9. ↑ "Kwarasey takker for seg" [Kwarasey says goodbye]. http://www.dt.no. Edda Media. Retrieved 31 October 2014. External link in |website= (help)
  10. ↑ "Kwarasey klar for amerikansk klubb" [Kwarasey signs for american club] (in Norwegian). 1 December 2014. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
  11. ↑ http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/30386368
  12. ↑ "Portland Timbers beat Sporting Kansas in MLS Cup shootout". BBC. 30 October 2015. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
  13. ↑ "Norwegian keeper opts for Ghana". BBC Sport. 6 November 2007. Archived from the original on 20 October 2011.
  14. ↑ Adam Larsen Kwarasey on Playerhistory.com Archived 26 July 2014 at the Wayback Machine.
  15. ↑ "Godset-keeperen fikk ghanesisk pass" [The Strømsgodset goalkeeper got Ghanaian passport]. Norwegian News Agency (in Norwegian) (Dagbladet). 1 October 2010. Archived from the original on 11 November 2013. Retrieved 26 May 2012.
  16. ↑ Ibrahim Sannie (30 July 2011). "Ex-Norway U21 goalkeeper handed Ghana call-up". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 19 July 2014.
  17. ↑ "Ghana versus Nigeria friendly in Watford called off". BBC Sport. 9 August 2011. Archived from the original on 21 July 2014.
  18. ↑ Michael Oti Adjei (13 August 2011). "Kwarasey wants to be Ghana's first choice keeper". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014.
  19. ↑ "Ghana/Swaziland: Gyan, Badu Inspire Black Stars to Home Win". All Africa. 2 September 2011.
  20. ↑ "Brazil 1-0 Ghana". BBC Sport. 5 September 2011. Archived from the original on 8 November 2011.
  21. ↑ "Veteran keeper left out of Ghana's Nations Cup squad". BBC Sport. 15 December 2011. Archived from the original on 15 December 2011. Retrieved 15 December 2011.
  22. ↑ "Kwarasey feeling good about form". Fox Sports. 8 February 2012. Archived from the original on 21 July 2014. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
  23. ↑ "Adam KWARASEY". FIFA. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
  24. ↑ "Ghana World Cup 2014 squad". The Telegraph. 2 June 2014. Archived from the original on 21 July 2014. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
  25. ↑ Mandeep Sanghera (17 June 2014). "Ghana 1-2 USA". BBC Sport. Retrieved 19 February 2015.
  26. ↑ "Ghana World Cup goalkeeper Adam Kwarasey considering quitting Black Stars". Modern Ghana. 4 July 2014. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
  27. ↑ "Ghana drop Kwarasey and Essien for Nations Cup qualifiers". BBC Sport. 20 August 2014. Retrieved 21 August 2014.
  28. ↑ "Adam Larsen Kwarasey". http://www.altomfotball.no. TV2 (Norway). Retrieved 28 July 2014. External link in |website= (help)
  29. ↑ "Soccerway profile". Retrieved 5 August 2015.
  30. 1 2 "Portland Timbers sign Ghana World Cup goalkeeper Adam Larsen Kwarasey". Portland Timbers. 8 December 2014.
  31. 1 2 "Hyggelig sesongavslutning" (in Norwegian). Strømsgodset IF. 13 November 2014. Retrieved 20 February 2015. Etter 8 år i klubben er Adam rett og slett en legende i Strømsgodset. Han ble Norgesmester i 2010, vant sølv i 2012 og seriegull i 2013.
  32. ↑ http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/2015/12/6/9858868/timbers-crew-2015-mls-cup-final-score-results
  33. ↑ http://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2015/11/29/portland-timbers-first-cascadia-club-reach-mls-cup-close-capturing-first-trophy-we
  34. ↑ Isaac Darko (13 November 2013). "Adam Kwarasey voted best Goalkeeper of the Season in Norway". Ghana News. Archived from the original on 16 November 2013. Retrieved 12 March 2014.
  35. ↑ http://www.mlssoccer.com/save-of-the-year/2015?autoplay=true

External links

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