Riga Mustapha

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Riga Mustapha
Personal information
Full nameRahamat Riga Mustapha
Date of birth (1981-10-10) 10 October 1981
Place of birthAccra, Ghana
Height1.82 m (5 ft 11 12 in)
Playing positionStriker
Club information
Current clubPune
Number7
Youth career
Vitesse
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
1998–2003Vitesse31(1)
2000–2001RBC Roosendaal (loan)8(0)
2003–2005Sparta Rotterdam68(26)
2005–2008Levante104(28)
2008–2011Bolton Wanderers18(0)
2011Cartagena10(0)
2013–Pune9(5)
National team
Netherlands U21
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 24 December 2013.
† Appearances (Goals).

Rahamat Riga Mustapha (born 10 October 1981) is an Ghanaian-born Dutch professional footballer who plays as a striker for Pune F.C. in the Indian I-League.

Career

Born in Accra, Ghana, Mustapha began his career with Eredivisie side Vitesse as a youth and senior player.[1] While with the Vitesse youth team, Mustapha actually worked under his future head coach at Sparta Rotterdam and Pune, Mike Snoei.[1] He also went out on loan to RBC Roosendaal while with Vitesse.[1] He then left Vitesse in 2003 to sign for Sparta Rotterdam in the Eerste Divisie.[1] In his two seasons at Sparta, Mustapha scored 26 league goals.[1]

In 2005 Mustapha left Sparta Rotterdam and the Netherlands to sign for Levante UD of the Segunda División on a free transfer.[2] Mustapha stayed at the club till 2008 when he signed for Bolton Wanderers of the Premier League in England as a replacement for the departing El Hadji Diouf.[3] However, after two and half seasons of failing to make an impact at Bolton, Mustapha was released by the club in January 2011 and eventually signed back in the Segunda División for Cartagena.[4]

Pune

On 26 October 2013, after two seasons away from competitve football action, Mustapha signed for Pune F.C. of the I-League in India as a replacement for injured striker Raúl Fabiani.[1] The move meant that he would reunite with his former coach Mike Snoei who is the current head coach of Pune.[1] He made his debut for his new side on 2 November 2013 in a league match against Sporting Goa at the Duler Stadium.[5] He played the full 90 minutes for Pune as the side went down 2–0.[5] He then scored his first goal for Pune, and his career first since the 2007–08 La Liga season, against Salgaocar on 22 November 2013 from the penalty spot in the 60th minute to lead Pune to a 1–1 draw in the league.[6] His second goal then came in the very next match against Dempo on 27 November 2013 in which his 51st minute strike lead Pune to another 1–1 draw.[7]

Then, in the month of December, Mustapha managed to find the net three times. His first goal that month came on the 11th against Rangdajied United in which he found the net in the 23rd minute to give Pune a 1–0 lead which they would eventually give up and lose 3–2.[8] He then scored his second and third goals in the very next match against United in which his brace lead Pune to a 2–1 victory and a "man of the match" award for Mustapha.[9]

International

Despite being born in Ghana, Mustapha has in the past represented the Netherlands U21 side but in 2005 it was reported that he had accepted a call-up to the Ghana senior team.[10]

Pune statistics

As of 24 December 2013[11][12][13]
Club Season League Cup Continental Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Levante 2005-06 Segunda División 381100--3811
2006-07 La Liga 33920--359
2007-08 La Liga 33822--3510
Total 1042842--10830
Bolton Wanderers 2008-09 Premier League 17020--190
2009-10 Premier League 1020--30
2010-11 Premier League 0000--00
Total 18040--220
FC Cartagena 2010-11 Segunda División 10000--100
Total 10000--100
Pune 2013-14 I-League 953110136
Total 953110136
Career total 141331131015336

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 "Pune FC release striker Fabiani, sign Mustapha Riga". Times of India. Retrieved 24 December 2013. 
  2. van Leeuwen, Gerrit. "Levante go for Riga". Sky Sports. Retrieved 24 December 2013. 
  3. "Bolton capture Dutch winger Riga". BBC. Retrieved 24 December 2013. 
  4. "Riga moves to Spain". The Bolton Times. Retrieved 24 December 2013. 
  5. 5.0 5.1 "Sporting Goa VS. Pune 2 - 0". Soccerway. Retrieved 24 December 2013. 
  6. "Salgaocar vs. Pune 1 - 1". Soccerway. Retrieved 24 December 2013. 
  7. "Dempo vs. Pune 1 - 1". Soccerway. Retrieved 24 December 2013. 
  8. "Rangdajied United vs. Pune 3 - 2". Soccerway. Retrieved 24 December 2013. 
  9. "I-League: Pune Football Club down United SC 2-1". India Noon. Retrieved 24 December 2013. 
  10. "Mustapha Riga Lands Levente Deal". Ghana Web. Retrieved 24 December 2013. 
  11. Riga Mustapha profile at Soccerway
  12. "Riga Mustapha". Soccerbase. Retrieved 6 February 2014. 
  13. "Mustapha". BDFutbol. Retrieved 6 February 2014. 

External links

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