Raphael Dwamena

Ghanaian association football player (1995–2023)

Raphael Vani Dwamena (12 September 1995 - 11 November 11 2023) was a Ghanaian football player.

Raphael Dwamena
Personal information
Full name Raphael Vani Dwamena
Date of birth (1995-09-12) 12 September 1995 (age 29)
Place of birth Kwahu Tafo, Ghana
Date of death 11 November 2023(2023-11-11) (aged 28)
Height 184 cm (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s) Forward
Youth career
2011-2014 Red Bull Ghana
2014 FC Red Bull Salzburg
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2014-2016 FC Liefering 27 (6)
2016-2017 SC Austria Lustenau 20 (18)
2017-2018 FC Zürich 51 (21)
2018-2020 UD Levante 12 (0)
2019-2020 Real Zaragoza (loan) 9 (2)
2020-2021 Vejle BK 5 (2)
2021-2022 FC Blau-Weiß Linz 3 (0)
2022 BSC Old Boys Basel 11 (8)
2023 KS Egnatia Rrogozhina 28 (20)
National team
2017-2018 Ghana 8 (2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 25 September 2024
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 25 September 2024

Career

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Dwamena began his career at Red Bull Ghana. In January 2014 he moved to Austria to AKA Salzburg. He made his professional debut for the FC Liefering on matchday 1 of the 2014/15 season against TSV Hartberg. For the 2016/17 season he moved to league rivals SC Austria Lustenau.[1] In January 2017 he moved to the Swiss second division club FC Zurich. With Zurich he was promoted to the Super League at the end of the season.

On August 21, 2017, it was confirmed that Dwamena would move to Brighton & Hove Albion in England. However, he did not have a work permit to play in the Premier League in England. On August 25, 2017 it was announced that Dwamena had failed medical examinations .[2] In August 2018 he moved to Spain to UD Levante. For the 2019/20 season he was loaned to the second division club Real Zaragoza.He missed a large part of the playing time due to heart problems. After the loan ended, he finally left Levante for the 2020/21 season and moved to Denmark to Vejle BK. He made five appearances in the Superliga for the Danes before his heart problems came back.

After half a year without a club, Dwamena returned to Austria for the 2021/22 season. He joined the second division club FC Blau-Weiß Linz. After his recent heart problems, he was removed from the squad in December 2021 for safety reasons. In August 2022, Dwamena then returned to Switzerland and moved to fifth division club BSC Old Boys Basel.In January 2023, Dwamena moved to Albania to KS Egnatia Rrogozhina in the Kategoria Superiore, the highest Albanian league.

International

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In December 2016, Dwamena was called up to a training camp for the Ghana national team for the first time.[3] In June 2017 he made his debut for the national team in the Africa Cup of Nations qualifying game against Ethiopia (5-0) and scored two goals.

Because of his k=nown heart problems since 2017, a defibrillator was implanted 2020. In 2022 he had the defibrillator removed. On November 11, 2023, Dwamena collapsed on the pitch at Arena Egnatia. At 1:50 p.m. local time, Dwamena died on the way to hospital.

References

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  1. "SC Austria Lustenau". Archived from the original on 2023-05-14. Retrieved 2024-10-03.
  2. fcz.ch
  3. fussball-imnetz.at[permanent dead link]