Raphael Dwamena (born 12 September 1995) is a Ghanaian 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
striker for Austrian club
Blau-Weiß Linz.
Playing career
Early years
Born in
Nkawkaw
Nkawkaw is a town in southern Ghana and is the capital of Kwahu East District, an area in the Eastern Region of south Ghana. Nkawkaw has a 2013 settlement population of 61,785 people. Nkawkaw is also described as a city in a valley as it the ...
, Dwamena played and trained with the
Red Bull Ghana
Red Bull Ghana was a Ghanaian professional football club and academy based in Sogakope, South Tongu District, Ghana, which was founded in 2008 and abolished in 2014. The club was owned by Red Bull and last played in Division One League Zone 3B ...
developmental program. At the International Tournament in
Croix
Croix (French for "cross") may refer to:
Belgium
* Croix-lez-Rouveroy, a village in municipality of Estinnes in the province of Hainaut
France
* Croix, Nord, in the Nord department
* Croix, Territoire de Belfort, in the Territoire de Belfort depa ...
, France, in 2013, Dwamena helped the RB Ghana U17 team to a silver medal performance, and was named the tournament's Best Player. Before returning to Ghana, Dwamena and his teammate,
David Atanga, first traveled to Austria for a one-week trial with
FC Red Bull Salzburg
FC Red Bull Salzburg is an Austrian professional football club based in Wals-Siezenheim, that competes in the Austrian Bundesliga, the top flight of Austrian Football. Their home ground is the Red Bull Arena. Due to sponsorship restrictions, ...
.
Dwamena joined the Salzburg youth team in January 2014, and immediately made an impact on the U18 squad. In one tournament in June, he racked up seven goals in four games. Although Salzburg finished in third, he won the Golden Shoe.
FC Liefering
In July 2014, Dwamena was promoted to
FC Liefering
FC Liefering GmbH is an Austrian association football club, originally from Liefering, a section of Salzburg. It currently plays in the Second League, the second tier of Austrian football. Since 2012, Liefering has been a reserve team for ...
, the Salzburg
farm team
In sports, a farm team, farm system, feeder team, feeder club, or nursery club is generally a team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any successful players can move on to a higher ...
playing in the
Austrian Football First League
The Austrian Football Second League (german: 2. Liga) is the second-highest professional division in Austrian football. It was formerly called the First League (''Erste Liga''), from 2002 to 2018.
The division currently contains 16 teams, and t ...
. He made his professional debut on 18 July, where in the 82nd minute of a 3–0 win over
Hartberg, Dwamena was substituted in for
Nikola Dovedan
Nikola Dovedan (born 6 July 1994) is an Austrian professional footballer who plays as a forward or attacking midfielder
A midfielder is an outfield position in association football.
Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role ...
. He was one of six Liefering players making their professional debuts that day. He played in one more game that season.
During the
2015–16 season, Dwamena made his first start for Liefering on 21 August against
Wiener Neustadt
Wiener Neustadt (; ; Central Bavarian: ''Weana Neistod'') is a city located south of Vienna, in the state of Lower Austria, in northeast Austria. It is a self-governed city and the seat of the district administration of Wiener Neustadt-Land Distr ...
. He played the 90 minutes in place of
Smail Prevljak
Smail Prevljak (; born 10 May 1995) is a Bosnian professional footballer who plays as a forward for 2. Bundesliga club Hertha BSC and the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team.
Prevljak started his professional career at RB Leipzig, playing ma ...
. On 18 September, in his fifth straight start, Dwamena scored his first professional goal. He scored in a 4–1 win over
Austria Klagenfurt
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 ci ...
.
Austria Lustenau
Dwamena enjoyed a successful half-season with
Austria Lustenau
Sportclub Austria Lustenau is a professional association football club based in the town of Lustenau, Vorarlberg, Austria, that competes in the Austrian Football Bundesliga, the top tier of the Austrian football league system. Founded in 1914, ...
, scoring 18 goals in 20 games, before his transfer to
FC Zürich
Fussballclub Zürich, commonly abbreviated to FC Zürich or simply FCZ, is a Swiss football club based in Zürich. The club was founded in 1896 and has won the Swiss Super League 13 times and the Swiss Cup 10 times. The most recent titles a ...
.
FC Zürich
Raphael Dwamena completed a transfer to FC Zürich on 27 January 2017. He made an immediate impact at his new club by scoring 12 goals in 18 matches, helping Zürich to win the
2016–17 Swiss Challenge League
The 2016–17 Swiss Challenge League (known for sponsorship reasons as the Brack.ch Challenge League) was the 14th season of the Swiss Challenge League, the second tier in the Swiss football pyramid. It began on 23 July 2016 and ended on 3 June 2 ...
and gain promotion to the
Swiss Super League
The Swiss Super League (known as the Credit Suisse Super League for sponsorship reasons) is a Swiss professional league in the top tier of the Swiss football league system and has been played in its current format since the 2003–04 season ...
.
On his Swiss Super League debut, Dwamena scored two goals against
Grasshoppers
Grasshoppers are a group of insects belonging to the suborder Caelifera. They are among what is possibly the most ancient living group of chewing herbivorous insects, dating back to the early Triassic around 250 million years ago.
Grasshop ...
.
On 21 August 2017, Zürich agreed a fee with
Premier League
The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...
club
Brighton & Hove Albion
Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Brighton, is an English professional football club based in the city of Brighton and Hove. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league ...
for the transfer of Dwamena. He was set to join Brighton subject to passing a medical, obtaining a work permit and international clearance, however the deal fell through after Dwamena failed his medical due to a heart condition. He instead, remained an FC Zürich player.
Levante and loan to Zaragoza
On 7 August 2018, Dwamena signed a four-year contract with
La Liga
The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...
side
Levante UD
Levante Unión Deportiva, S.A.D. (, ca-valencia, Llevant Unió Esportiva ) is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club in Valencia, in the Valencian Community, namesake autonomous community.
Founded on 9 September 1909, Levante ...
. The following 16 July, he was loaned out to
Segunda División
The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commercially known as LaLiga SmartBank for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spanish football league system. Administrated by the Lig ...
club
Real Zaragoza
Real Zaragoza, S.A.D. (), commonly referred to as Zaragoza, is a football club based in Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain, that currently competes in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish league system. Zaragoza holds its home games at La ...
for one year.
In October 2019, after new examinations were carried on his heart condition, the doctors recommended his immediate withdrawal and retirement from football. He, however, continued after having implemented an
implantable cardioverter-defibrillator
An implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) or automated implantable cardioverter defibrillator (AICD) is a device implantable inside the body, able to perform defibrillation, and depending on the type, cardioversion and pacing of the ...
(ICD) in January 2020.
Vejle
On 20 August 2020, Dwamena moved to
Vejle Boldklub
Vejle Boldklub is a Danish professional football club based in Vejle in Jutland. Formed in 1891, the club is one of the most successful clubs in Danish football history, having won the Danish championship five times and the Danish cup title six t ...
in the
Danish Superliga
The Danish Superliga ( da, Superligaen, ) is the current Danish football championship tournament, and administered by the Danish Football Association. It is the highest football league in Denmark and is currently contested by 12 teams each yea ...
. He scored in his debut in the Superliga, as Vejle lost 4–2 to rivals
AGF. He was withdrawn from team activities after complications of his heart condition were detected before a Superliga match against
AaB.
At that point, he had made five league appearances for the newly promoted Superliga club and scored twice.
Due to his heart condition and some worrying measurements, Vejle confirmed on 26 October 2020, that Dwamena couldn't play for a period. Later in November 2020, the clubs sporting director stated, that Dwamena had played his last game for the club.
Return to Austria
On 25 June 2021 he returned to Austria and signed a two-year contract with
Blau-Weiß Linz. On 28 October 2021, Dwamena collapsed on the field during an
Austrian Cup
The Austrian Cup (german: ÖFB-Cup), known as UNIQA ÖFB Cup for sponsorship purposes, is an annual football competition held by the Austrian Football Association, the ÖFB. During the 2008–09 season, Austria Wien won the tournament for 27th t ...
game against
TSV Hartberg
TSV Hartberg, known as TSV Egger Glass Hartberg for sponsorship purposes, is an Austrian association football club based in Hartberg, founded in 1946, which is currently playing in the Austrian Bundesliga.
History
The club was founded on 29 Ap ...
as the game was abandoned. He recovered in the hospital, but has not played since then.
International career
Dwamena didn't get the chance to play for the youth national teams of his country Ghana. Raphael Dwamena was called into the senior team as part of the 30-man squad for the 2017 African Cup of Nations but was dropped from the 23-man squad.
Raphael Dwamena made his international debut on the 11 June 2017 in an African Cup of Nations qualifier against Ethiopia, where he scored a brace to mark the new era of youngsters being introduced into the national team.
Personal life
Dwamena was diagnosed with a heart condition in 2017. In January 2020, while at
Levante UD
Levante Unión Deportiva, S.A.D. (, ca-valencia, Llevant Unió Esportiva ) is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club in Valencia, in the Valencian Community, namesake autonomous community.
Founded on 9 September 1909, Levante ...
he had an
implantable cardioverter-defibrillator
An implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) or automated implantable cardioverter defibrillator (AICD) is a device implantable inside the body, able to perform defibrillation, and depending on the type, cardioversion and pacing of the ...
(ICD) implanted through surgery, which enabled his club to monitor his heart during matches.
In October 2020, the ICD showed values which were considered too high, and his club at the time,
Vejle Boldklub
Vejle Boldklub is a Danish professional football club based in Vejle in Jutland. Formed in 1891, the club is one of the most successful clubs in Danish football history, having won the Danish championship five times and the Danish cup title six t ...
, withdrew him from team activities as a result.
In October 2021 in Austrian Cup match during the first half of Blau-Weiss Linz's game against Harterg, Dwamena collapsed on pitch and was shocked by an ICD and stabilized quickly.
Career statistics
Club
International Games
International goals
:''Scores and results list Ghana's goal tally first.''
Honours
Club
;Liefering
*
Austrian Football First League
The Austrian Football Second League (german: 2. Liga) is the second-highest professional division in Austrian football. It was formerly called the First League (''Erste Liga''), from 2002 to 2018.
The division currently contains 16 teams, and t ...
: Runner-up
2014–15
;FC Zurich
*
Swiss Challenge League
The Challenge League is the second-highest tier of the Swiss football league system and lower of two professional leagues in the country. Ten teams play in the Challenge League; the winners of the league are promoted to the Super League, while the ...
: Winner
2016–17
*
Swiss Cup
The Swiss Cup (; ; ; ) is a football cup tournament that has been organised annually since 1925–26 by the Swiss Football Association. Since 1999 the winner earns the chance to qualify for the UEFA Europa League or the UEFA Europa Conference L ...
winner:
2017–18
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dwamena, Raphael
1995 births
Living people
Ghanaian footballers
Ghana international footballers
Association football forwards
FC Liefering players
SC Austria Lustenau players
FC Zürich players
Levante UD footballers
Real Zaragoza players
Vejle Boldklub players
FC Blau-Weiß Linz players
2. Liga (Austria) players
Swiss Challenge League players
Swiss Super League players
La Liga players
Danish Superliga players
People from Eastern Region (Ghana)
Ghanaian expatriate footballers
Ghanaian expatriate sportspeople in Austria
Ghanaian expatriate sportspeople in Spain
Ghanaian expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland
Ghanaian expatriate sportspeople in Denmark
Expatriate footballers in Austria
Expatriate footballers in Spain
Expatriate footballers in Switzerland
Expatriate footballers in Denmark