Adam Larsen Kwarasey

Adambathia Larsen "Adam" Kwarasey (born 12 December 1987) is a retired professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper. Born in Norway, Kwarasey represents Ghana at international level.

Adam Larsen Kwarasey
Larsen Kwarasey playing for the Portland Timbers
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]
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Youth career
Trosterud
2006–2007 Vålerenga
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2007–2014 Strømsgodset 154 (0)
2009 Strømsgodset 2 1 (0)
2015–2016 Portland Timbers 40 (0)
2016–2017 Rosenborg 9 (0)
2017 Brøndby 2 (0)
2017–2020 Vålerenga 61 (0)
Total 267 (0)
International career‡
2008 Norway U21 1 (0)
2011–2016 Ghana[3] 24 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 12 August 2020
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 14:11, 15 July 2019 (UTC)

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] He scored his first senior goal in 2010, converting a penalty kick in the cup against Modum.[7] Kwarasey was the captain of the club in 2013 when Strømsgodset won Tippeligaen for the first time since 1970.[8] He also won the Kniksen Award as the best goalkeeper in the 2013 season.[9]

Kwarasey announced on 31 October 2014 that he would leave Strømsgodset after the 2014 season, when his contract expired.[10]

Portland Timbers

Kwarasey signed for the Major League Soccer club Portland Timbers in December 2014.[11][12] 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.[13] The Timbers won the next two rounds and then the 2015 MLS Cup, 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.[14]

Rosenborg

Kwarasey returned to Norwegian football in July 2016 after signing a three-and-a-half year contract with Rosenborg.[15] The Timbers stated that this move "helps free up cap space" and "made sense for Kwarasey and his family."[16] The lanky Ghanaian international won the Tippeligaen and the Norwegian Football Cup[17] 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.[18]

Vålerenga

On 6 June 2017, Kwarasey Larsen agreed a three-year contract with former youth club Vålerenga.[19] 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.[20] He left the club in August 2020.[21]

International career

In November 2007, Kwarasey declared that he would play international football for Ghana.[22] However, he played a friendly match for Norway under-21 in 2008.[23] In October 2010, Kwarasey received his Ghanaian passport and became eligible to play for Ghana.[24] On 30 July 2011, Kwarasey was called up to the Ghana national team for a match against Nigeria.[25] That match was postponed due to security reasons,[26] although Kwarasey confirmed his intention to become Ghana's first-choice goalkeeper.[27] He made his international debut for Ghana on 2 September 2011 in an 2012 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Swaziland,[28] before playing in a friendly match against Brazil at Craven Cottage in London three days later.[29] Kwarasey was named to Ghana's 23-man squad for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations.[30] He was the team's first choice goalkeeper throughout the tournament, as the Black Stars finished in fourth place.[31]

Kwarasey made two appearances for the Black Stars during their successful 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign, serving as understudy to Fatau Dauda.[32] On 2 June 2014, Kwarasey was named in Ghana's squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup.[33] He started in goal for the Black Stars in the team's opening match, a 2–1 defeat against the United States in Natal.[34] After his team defeat, he planned to quit playing with Black Stars.[35] In August 2014, he was dropped from the national team.[36]

Career statistics
As of 8 November 2019[37][17]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup[lower-alpha 1] Continental Other[lower-alpha 2] Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Strømsgodset 2007 Tippeligaen 4010––50
2008 4030––70
2009 4020––60
2010 29071––360
2011 280402[lower-alpha 3]0–340
2012 29030––320
2013 300103[lower-alpha 3]0–340
2014 260102[lower-alpha 4]0–290
Total 154022170001831
Portland Timbers 2015 MLS 33020–50400
2016 700000–70
Total 400200050470
Rosenborg 2016 Tippeligaen 90104[lower-alpha 5]0–140
Brøndby 2016–17 Danish Superliga 202000–40
Vålerenga 2017 Eliteserien 14030––170
2018 30010––310
2019 17010––180
2020 0000––00
Total 610500000660
Career total 2660321110503141
  1. Includes the Norwegian Football Cup, U.S. Open Cup, and Danish Cup
  2. All appearances in the MLS Cup Playoffs
  3. Appearances in the Europa League
  4. Appearances in the Champions League
  5. Two appearances in the Champions League, two appearances in the Europa League

International
As of 15 July 2019[3]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Ghana 201150
2012120
201320
201430
201500
201620
Total240

Honours

Strømsgodset

Portland Timbers

Rosenborg

Individual

References
  1. "2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil: List of Players" (PDF). FIFA. 11 June 2014. p. 17. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 April 2019. Retrieved 11 June 2014.
  2. Adam Larsen Kwarasey 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. "Profile" (in Norwegian). Strømsgodset IF. Archived from the original on 18 February 2012.
  7. "Adams første scoring". Drammens Tidende (in Norwegian). 14 May 2010. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
  8. 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.
  9. 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.
  10. "Kwarasey takker for seg". 31 October 2014.
  11. "Kwarasey klar for amerikansk klubb" [Kwarasey signs for American club] (in Norwegian). 1 December 2014. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
  12. "Ghanaian goalkeeper Adam Kwarasey joins Portland Timbers". BBC Sport. 8 December 2014. Retrieved 2 October 2016.
  13. "Portland Timbers beat Sporting Kansas in MLS Cup shootout". BBC. 30 October 2016. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
  14. "Portland Timbers' Adam Kwarasey out at least a month due to finger injury". MLS. 20 April 2016. Retrieved 20 July 2016.
  15. Frode Søraas (18 July 2016). "Nyheter | Rosenborg". Rbk.no. Archived from the original on 21 July 2016. Retrieved 2 October 2016.
  16. "Portland Timbers transfer goalkeeper Adam Kwarasey to Norwegian club Rosenborg BK". Portland Timbers. 18 July 2016. Retrieved 18 July 2016.
  17. Adam Larsen Kwarasey at Soccerway. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
  18. "Brøndby IF henter målmand i Norge". brondbyif.dk. 9 January 2017. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
  19. "OFFICIAL: Adam Kwarasey joins new club on a three-year deal - SportsObama.com". SportsObama.com. 6 June 2016. Archived from the original on 9 June 2017. Retrieved 6 June 2017.
  20. Zurek, Kweku. "Ghana news: Adam Kwarasey completes transfer to Valeranga - Graphic Online". Graphic Online. Retrieved 6 June 2016.
  21. "EXCLUSIVE: Ghana goalkeeper Adam Kwarasey part ways with Norwegian side Valerenga". GhanaSoccernet. 6 August 2020.
  22. "Norwegian keeper opts for Ghana". BBC Sport. 6 November 2007. Archived from the original on 20 October 2011.
  23. Adam Larsen Kwarasey on Playerhistory.com Archived 26 July 2014 at the Wayback Machine
  24. "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.
  25. Ibrahim Sannie (30 July 2011). "Ex-Norway U21 goalkeeper handed Ghana call-up". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 19 July 2014.
  26. "Ghana versus Nigeria friendly in Watford called off". BBC Sport. 9 August 2011. Archived from the original on 21 July 2014.
  27. 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.
  28. "Ghana/Swaziland: Gyan, Badu Inspire Black Stars to Home Win". All Africa. 2 September 2011.
  29. "Brazil 1-0 Ghana". BBC Sport. 5 September 2011. Archived from the original on 8 November 2011.
  30. "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.
  31. "Kwarasey feeling good about form". Fox Sports. 8 February 2012. Archived from the original on 21 July 2014. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
  32. "Adam KWARASEY". FIFA. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
  33. "Ghana World Cup 2014 squad". The Telegraph. 2 June 2014. Archived from the original on 21 July 2014. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
  34. Mandeep Sanghera (17 June 2014). "Ghana 1-2 USA". BBC Sport. Retrieved 19 February 2015.
  35. "Ghana World Cup goalkeeper Adam Kwarasey considering quitting Black Stars". Modern Ghana. 4 July 2014. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
  36. "Ghana drop Kwarasey and Essien for Nations Cup qualifiers". BBC Sport. 20 August 2014. Retrieved 21 August 2014.
  37. "Adam Larsen Kwarasey". Altomfotball.no. Retrieved 2 October 2016.
  38. "Portland Timbers sign Ghana World Cup goalkeeper Adam Larsen Kwarasey". Portland Timbers. 8 December 2014. Archived from the original on 26 June 2015. Retrieved 20 February 2015.
  39. "Hyggelig sesongavslutning" (in Norwegian). Strømsgodset Toppfotball. 13 November 2014. Archived from the original on 20 February 2015. 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.
  40. McCauley, Kevin (6 December 2015). "Portland Timbers lift first ever MLS Cup title, beating Columbus Crew 2-1". SBNation.com. Retrieved 2 October 2016.
  41. "Portland Timbers become first Cascadia club to reach the MLS Cup: "We want to win the big one"". MLSsoccer.com. 29 November 2015. Retrieved 2 October 2016.
  42. Chris Thomas Skogli (24 September 2016). "Nyheter | Rosenborg". Rbk.no. Archived from the original on 6 October 2016. Retrieved 2 October 2016.
  43. "Spillerprofiler | Rosenborg". Rbk.no. Archived from the original on 27 September 2016. Retrieved 2 October 2016.
  44. 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.
  45. "Portland Timbers goalkeeper Adam Kwarasey takes home 2015 Save of the Year honors". MLSsoccer.com. 1 November 2015. Retrieved 2 October 2016.
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