Joseph "Joja" Owusu Bempah (born 5 September 1995) is a

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 ...

ian footballer, who plays for Borac Čačak in

Serbian First League The Serbian First League ( sr, Прва лига Србије / Prva liga Srbije), referred to as the Mozzart Bet First League ( sr, Моцарт Бет Прва лига / Mozzart Bet Prva liga) for sponsorship reasons, is the name for the second ...

Club career

Ghanaian Premier League

Born in

Offinso Offinso, is a town in the Offinso Municipality in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. The town is about fifteen minutes drive from Kumasi, the capital of the Ashanti Region; due to Offinso's proximity to Kumasi, many of the Offinso natives have reloca ...

Ashanti Region The Ashanti Region is located in southern part of Ghana and it is the third largest of 16 administrative regions, occupying a total land surface of or 10.2 percent of the total land area of Ghana. In terms of population, however, it is the mo ...

, Bempah played with several clubs in his early years, including

King Faisal Babes King Faisal Football Club is a professional association football club based in Kumasi, Ashanti, Ghana. The club competes in the Glo Premier League. They were represented at the 2006 FIFA World Cup by left-back Habib Mohamed. The club have nev ...

, Real Tamale United and New Edubiase United. He joined

Accra Hearts of Oak Accra Hearts of Oak Sporting Club, commonly referred to as Hearts of Oak or just Hearts, is a professional sports club based in Accra ( Greater Accra), Ghana. Founded in 1911, the club is the oldest surviving football club in Ghana and its tr ...

in 2012 and since the beginning of 2013 he became the first squad player. During the time he played with the club he was also awarded with a captain's armband. At the beginning of 2017, after the end of contract with his former club Hearts of Oak, he permanently moved to Bechem United as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

, but shortly after he terminated the deal.

Move to Europe: Vojvodina

Bempah moved to the

Serbian SuperLiga The Serbian Super League ( sr, Супер лига Србије / Super liga Srbije), referred to as the Mozzart Bet Super League ( sr, Моцарт Бет Супер лига / Mozzart Bet Super liga) for sponsorship reasons, is a Serbian profes ...

side

Vojvodina Vojvodina ( sr-Cyrl, Војводина}), officially the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, is an autonomous province that occupies the northernmost part of Serbia. It lies within the Pannonian Basin, bordered to the south by the national capital ...

at the beginning of 2017, but due to administrative problems, he officially joined the club in May same year. He made his debut in 35 fixture of the 2016–17 season, replacing Siniša Babić in 84 minute of the match against Radnički Niš. On 7 June 2017, Bempah signed a three-year contract with the club. He scored his first goal for Vojvodina in opening match of the 2017–18 Serbian SuperLiga season for 1–0 win over Čukarički on 21 July 2017. Bempah also scored in the first match he started on the field, against Radnik Surdulica next week. On 9 August 2017, Bempah scored in 2–0 away win against Borac Čačak, helping Vojvodina to make 4th successive win and collect all 12 points at the beginning of the domestic competition in Serbia. At early December 2017, Bempah and Vojvodina mutually terminated the contract.

International career

Bempah captained Ghana national under-20 football team at the

2015 African U-20 Championship The 2015 African U-20 Championship was the 20th edition of the biennial international youth football tournament organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) for players aged 20 and below. The tournament took place in Senegal between ...

, where he won bronze medal, beating

Mali Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mal ...

for the third place on the tournament. Bempah was also a squad member at the

2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the twentieth edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup since its inception in 1977 as the FIFA World Youth Championship. The competition took place for the first time in New Zealand, the third time on Oceanian soil after ...

, where he capped on match against

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

in a group stage.

Style of play

In early years of his career, Bempah has started playing football as a defender, mostly operating as a right side full-back being capable of playing left too. Beside the defensive skills, he has a great explosive power. Moving to the European football, Bempah has been mostly used as a defensive or central midfielder. Having a back-up role for a few months in his first matches with Vojvodina, he affirmed himself as a utility player. Bempah also capped as a

second striker Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

a couple of times before he became the regular member of Vojvodina's first squad as a

right winger A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. As one of the most successful goal poachers, Bempah scored in 3 of 4 games at the beginning 2017–18 Serbian SuperLiga season.

Career statistics

Club

Honours

Ghana U20 * African U-20 Championship bronze medal: 2015

References

External links

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bempah, Joseph Owusu 1995 births Living people People from Ashanti Region Men's association football utility players Ghanaian men's footballers Ghana Premier League players Accra Hearts of Oak S.C. players Ghanaian expatriate men's footballers Ghanaian expatriate sportspeople in Serbia Expatriate men's footballers in Serbia FK Vojvodina players FK Sloboda Užice players FK Proleter Novi Sad players FK Radnički Pirot players Serbian SuperLiga players Serbian First League players Murciélagos F.C. footballers Liga MX players Expatriate men's footballers in Mexico Men's association football fullbacks Men's association football midfielders Real Tamale United players New Edubiase United F.C. players