| Intro | Ghanaian footballer |
| Is |
Athlete Football player Association football player |
| From |
Ghana Norway |
| Type | Sports |
| Gender | male |
| Birth | 12 December 1987, Oslo |
| Age: | 32 years |
Adambathia Larsen “Adam” Kwarasey (born 12 December 1987) is a professional footballer who plays for Danish club Brøndby, as a goalkeeper.
Born in Norway, Kwarasey represents Ghana at international level.
Early and personal life
Kwarasey was born in Oslo, Norway to a father from Ghana and a mother from Norway. He holds both Ghanaian and Norwegian passports.
Club career
Strømsgodset
Kwarasey played youth football with Trosterud and Vålerenga. After moving to Strømsgodset, he made his debut on 6 May 2007. Kwarasey was the captain of the club when Strømsgodset in 2013 won Tippeligaen for the first time since 1970. He also won the Kniksen Award 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 Major League Soccer club Portland Timbers in December 2014. In the knockout round of MLS Cup 2015 against Sporting Kansas City Kwarasey scored a penalty then saved his opposite number Jon Kempin’s shot to help his team win the shootout and advance to the next round. During the match against San Jose Earthquakes on April 16 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.”
Brøndby
On 9 January 2017 it was confirmed by Brøndby that Kwarasey Larsen had signed a four-year contract with the club.
International career
In November 2007, Kwarasey declared that he would play international football for Ghana. However, he played a friendly match for Norway under-21 in 2008.
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. 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 against Brazil at Craven Cottage in London 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.
He 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 by the United States in Natal. After his team defeat he planned to quit playing with Black Stars. In August 2014 he was dropped from the national team.
Career statistics
- As of 2 November 2016
| Club | Season | Division | League | Cup | Europe | Total | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
| Strømsgodset | 2007 | Tippeligaen | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| 2008 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | ||
| 2009 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | ||
| 2010 | 29 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 36 | 0 | ||
| 2011 | 28 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 34 | 0 | ||
| 2012 | 29 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 32 | 0 | ||
| 2013 | 30 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 31 | 0 | ||
| 2014 | 26 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 30 | 0 | ||
| Total | 154 | 0 | 23 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 184 | 1 | ||
| Portland Timbers | 2015 | MLS | 33 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 35 | 0 |
| 2016 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | ||
| Total | 40 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 42 | 0 | ||
| Rosenborg | 2016 | Tippeligaen | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 14 | 0 |
| Total | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 14 | 0 | ||
| Career total | 200 | 0 | 26 | 1 | 11 | 0 | 237 | 1 | ||
Honours
Club
- Strømsgodset
- Tippeligaen (1): 2013
- Norwegian Football Cup (1): 2010
- Portland Timbers
- MLS Cup (1): 2015
- Western Conference (Playoffs): 2015
- Rosenborg
- Tippeligaen (1): 2016
- Norwegian Football Cup (1): 2016
Individual
- Best Goalkeeper in Tippeligaen: 2013
- MLS Save of the Year: 2015
- ^ “Portland Timbers sign Ghana World Cup goalkeeper Adam Larsen Kwarasey”. Portland Timbers. 8 December 2014.
-
^ “Hyggelig sesongavslutning” (in Norwegian). Strømsgodset Toppfotball. 13 November 2014. 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.
- McCauley, Kevin (2015-12-06). “Portland Timbers lift first ever MLS Cup title, beating Columbus Crew 2-1”. SBNation.com. Retrieved 2016-10-02.
- “Portland Timbers become first Cascadia club to reach the MLS Cup: “We want to win the big one““. MLSsoccer.com. 2015-11-29. Retrieved 2016-10-02.
- Chris Thomas Skogli (2016-09-24). “Nyheter | Rosenborg”. Rbk.no. Retrieved 2016-10-02.
- “Spillerprofiler | Rosenborg”. Rbk.no. Retrieved 2016-10-02.
- 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.
- “Portland Timbers goalkeeper Adam Kwarasey takes home 2015 Save of the Year honors”. MLSsoccer.com. 2015-11-01. Retrieved 2016-10-02.