Raphael Dwamena
Raphael Vani Dwamena (12 September 1995 - 11 November 11 2023) was a Ghanaian football player.
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Raphael Vani Dwamena | ||
| Date of birth | 12 September 1995 | ||
| Place of birth | Kwahu Tafo, Ghana | ||
| Date of death | 11 November 2023 (aged 28) | ||
| Height | 184 cm (6 ft 0 in) | ||
| Playing position | 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
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
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.
Death
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.