Adambathia Larsen "Adam" Kwarasey (born 12 December 1987) is a retired professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who plays as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

. Born in Norway, Kwarasey represents

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

at international level.

Early and personal life

Kwarasey was born in

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population ...

, Norway to a father from Ghana and a mother from Norway. He holds both

Ghanaian Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

and

Norwegian passport A Norwegian passport ( no, norsk pass, se, norgga pássa) is the passport issued to nationals of Norway for the purpose of international travel. Beside serving as proof of Norwegian citizenship, they facilitate the process of securing assistance ...

Club career

Strømsgodset

Kwarasey played youth football with Trosterud and Vålerenga. After moving to Strømsgodset, he made his debut on 6 May 2007. He scored his first senior goal in 2010, converting a penalty kick in the cup against Modum. Kwarasey was the captain of the club in 2013 when Strømsgodset won

Tippeligaen Eliteserien () is a Norwegian professional league for association football clubs. At the top of the Norwegian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion ...

for the first time since

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (''Extreme''). Between 10,000 and ...

. He also won the

Kniksen Award The Kniksen Award ( no, Kniksenprisen), established in 1990, honors the best players in the Norwegian football premiership. The award is named after the legendary Norwegian football player Roald Jensen, nicknamed "Kniksen". Categories Catego ...

as the best goalkeeper in the 2013 season. Kwarasey announced on 31 October 2014 that he would leave Strømsgodset after the 2014 season, when his contract expired.

Portland Timbers

Kwarasey signed for the Major League Soccer club Portland Timbers in December 2014. In the one-game knockout round of the MLS Cup 2015 playoffs against Sporting Kansas City, the game went to a penalty-kick shootout. The shootout was tied after all 10 field players had taken their shots, so the goalkeepers went next; Kwarasey scored his shot, then saved his opposite number Jon Kempin's shot, winning his team the shootout and enabling it to advance to the next round. The Timbers won the next two rounds and then the

2015 MLS Cup MLS Cup 2015 was the 20th edition of the MLS Cup, the championship game of Major League Soccer (MLS). The association football, soccer match was to determine the champion of MLS' 2015 Major League Soccer season, 2015 season. The championship wa ...

, the league championship. During the match against San Jose Earthquakes on 16 April 2016, Kwarasey suffered a finger injury, which turned out to be a torn ligament that would rule him out for a month.

Rosenborg

Kwarasey returned to Norwegian football in July 2016 after signing a three-and-a-half year contract with Rosenborg. The Timbers stated that this move "helps free up cap space" and "made sense for Kwarasey and his family." The lanky Ghanaian international won the Tippeligaen and the

Norwegian Football Cup The Norwegian Football Cup ( no, Norgesmesterskapet i fotball for herrer) is the main knockout cup competition in Norwegian football. It is run by the Football Association of Norway and has been contested since 1902, making it the oldest footba ...

in his only season with the Norwegian football giants. This was his fourth time of winning a medal in the Norway, after captaining Strømsgodset to their first league title since 1970. He left Rosenborg in 2017 for Brøndby in Denmark.

Brøndby

On 9 January 2017, it was confirmed by Brøndby that Kwarasey had signed a four-year contract with the club.

Vålerenga

On 6 June 2017, Kwarasey Larsen agreed a three-year contract with former youth club Vålerenga. Due to the Norwegian transfer window which opens on 21 July, he will not be available to play competitively for Vålerenga until that date, although he will be able to train with the team. He left the club in August 2020.

International career

In November 2007, Kwarasey declared that he would play international football for

. However, he played a friendly match for Norway under-21 in 2008.Adam Larsen Kwarasey
on Playerhistory.com In October 2010, Kwarasey received his Ghanaian passport and became eligible to play for Ghana. On 30 July 2011, Kwarasey was called up to the Ghana national team for a match against

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

. That match was postponed due to security reasons, although Kwarasey confirmed his intention to become Ghana's first-choice goalkeeper. He made his international debut for Ghana on 2 September 2011 in an 2012 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Swaziland, before playing in a

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

against

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

Craven Cottage Craven Cottage is a football ground in Fulham, West London, England, which has been the home of Fulham F.C. since 1896.According to the club'official website The ground's capacity is 22,384; the record attendance is 49,335, for a game against ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

three days later. Kwarasey was named to Ghana's 23-man squad for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations. He was the team's first choice goalkeeper throughout the tournament, as the Black Stars finished in fourth place. Kwarasey made two appearances for the Black Stars during their successful 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign, serving as understudy to Fatau Dauda. On 2 June 2014, Kwarasey was named in Ghana's squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. He started in goal for the Black Stars in the team's opening match, a 2–1 defeat against the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

Natal NATAL or Natal may refer to: Places * Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, a city in Brazil * Natal, South Africa (disambiguation), a region in South Africa ** Natalia Republic, a former country (1839–1843) ** Colony of Natal, a former British colony ( ...

. After his team defeat, he planned to quit playing with Black Stars. In August 2014, he was dropped from the national team.

Career statistics

International

Honours

Strømsgodset *

: 2013 *

: 2010 Portland Timbers *

MLS Cup The MLS Cup is the annual championship game of Major League Soccer (MLS) and the culmination of the MLS Cup Playoffs. The game is held in November and pits the winner of the Eastern Conference Final against the winner of the Western Conferen ...

: 2015 * Western Conference (Playoffs): 2015 Rosenborg *

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

Individual *Best Goalkeeper in

: 2013 *MLS Save of the Year: 2015

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kwarasey, Adam Larsen 1987 births Living people Footballers from Oslo Citizens of Ghana through descent Ghanaian people of Norwegian descent Ghanaian footballers Ghanaian expatriate footballers Ghana international footballers Association football goalkeepers Vålerenga Fotball players Strømsgodset Toppfotball players Portland Timbers players Rosenborg BK players Brøndby IF players Norwegian footballers Norwegian expatriate footballers Norway under-21 international footballers Norwegian people of Ghanaian descent 2012 Africa Cup of Nations players 2013 Africa Cup of Nations players 2014 FIFA World Cup players Eliteserien players Major League Soccer players Norwegian Second Division players Danish Superliga players Expatriate soccer players in the United States Norwegian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Ghanaian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate footballers in Denmark