Mubarak Wakaso

Mubarak Wakaso (Arabic: مبارك واكاسو‎; born 25 July 1990) is a Ghanaian footballer who plays for Chinese club Jiangsu Suning F.C. and the Ghana national team as a midfielder.

Mubarak Wakaso

Wakaso playing for Ghana in 2015
Personal information
Full name	Mubarak Wakaso
Date of birth	25 July 1990
Place of birth	Tamale, Ghana
Height	1.71 m (5 ft 7 in)
Position(s)	Midfielder
Club information
Current team	Jiangsu Suning
Number	33
Youth career
	Adelaide
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2007–2008	Ashanti Gold
2008–2011	Elche	58	(1)
2011	Villarreal B	5	(1)
2011–2012	Villarreal	17	(0)
2012–2013	Espanyol	26	(3)
2013–2016	Rubin Kazan	16	(2)
2014–2015	→ Celtic (loan)	5	(0)
2015–2016	→ Las Palmas (loan)	20	(1)
2016–2017	Panathinaikos	8	(1)
2017	→ Granada (loan)	11	(1)
2017–2020	Alavés	66	(1)
2020–	Jiangsu Suning	18	(0)
National team^‡
2005	Ghana U17
2012–	Ghana	58	(12)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 31 December 2020 ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 11:22, 15 July 2019 (UTC)

He spent the better part of his career in Spain, starting out at Elche in 2008 and going on to also represent Villarreal, Espanyol, Las Palmas, Granada and Alavés. He also competed professionally in Russia, Scotland, Greece and China.

Wakaso appeared with the Ghana national team at the 2014 World Cup, as well as four Africa Cup of Nations tournaments.

Club career

Wakaso before a game with Villarreal in 2011

Early years / Spain

Born in Tamale, Northern Region, Wakaso began his senior career in Ashanti Gold SC. In 2008, he moved abroad and signed with Elche CF in Spain on a five-year contract, but only joined the club nearly two months later, however, due to international duty.[1]

In late January 2011, after several bouts of indiscipline and internal codes violations,[2] Wakaso was released by the Valencians.[3] Shortly after, he joined another side in the region and Segunda División, Villarreal CF's B-team.

On 27 February 2011, Wakaso made his La Liga debut, coming on as a substitute for José Catalá in the last minutes of a 2–2 away draw against Racing de Santander.[4] He only played six matches in his first full season, and the Yellow Submarine was also relegated after 12 years in the top flight.

Wakaso signed for RCD Espanyol on 11 July 2012, penning a four-year contract.[5] He started in 23 of his league appearances for the Catalans in his first and only season.

Rubin Kazan

In the last days of the 2013 summer transfer window, Wakaso moved to the Russian Premier League with FC Rubin Kazan.[6] On 28 August 2014, he joined Celtic on a season-long loan.[7]

Wakaso scored on his competitive debut for Celtic, netting the first in a 2–2 away draw against FC Red Bull Salzburg in the UEFA Europa League group stage.[8] On 30 August 2015, after appearing rarely, he was loaned to UD Las Palmas for one year.[9]

Panathinaikos

On 10 July 2016, Wakaso signed a three-year contract with Superleague Greece club Panathinaikos F.C. for an undisclosed fee.[10] On 15 September, in the last minute of a Europa League group phase home fixture against AFC Ajax, he was sent off – as teammate Ivan Ivanov midway through the second half of the eventual 1–2 home loss[11]– and UEFA subsequently suspended him a further two games after his initial ban was over.[12]

On 1 February 2017, Wakaso was loaned to another Spanish top flight side, Granada CF.[13][14] He scored his first club for them on 1 March, helping to a 2–1 home win over Deportivo Alavés.[15]

Alavés

On 17 July 2017, the day after mutually terminating his contract,[16] Wakaso signed a three-year deal with Alavés.[17] He scored his only competitive goal for the Basques on 18 May 2019, in a 2–1 home defeat of Girona FC who were relegated as a result.[18]

Jiangsu Suning

On 18 January 2020, Wakaso transferred to Chinese Super League side Jiangsu Suning FC.[19]

International career

Wakaso represented Ghana at the 2005 FIFA U-17 World Championship in Peru, playing two matches in an eventual group stage exit (three draws).[20] He made his full international debut on 13 October 2012, in a 2013 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Malawi.[21]

Wakaso scored his first goal for Ghana in a friendly with Cape Verde on 14 November 2012.[22] He was picked for the squad that appeared at the 2013 CAN in South Africa, notably netting the game's only goal in a group stage contest against Mali, through a penalty kick,[23] then scoring both in the 2–0 quarter-final win against Cape Verde.[24]

Wakaso was selected by manager James Kwesi Appiah for his 2014 FIFA World Cup squad.[25] He made his debut in the tournament on 21 June, playing 22 minutes in a 2–2 draw against Germany.[26]

On 5 February 2015, Wakaso netted the second goal in Ghana's 3–0 win over Equatorial Guinea in the semi-final of the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations to take them to the final.[27][28] In the decisive match, against the Ivory Coast, he scored his penalty shootout attempt in an eventual 8–9 loss.[29]

Personal life

Wakaso's younger brother, Alhassan, is also a footballer and a midfielder. He spent most of his career in Portugal.[30][31]

Wakaso is a practicing Muslim.[32] In October 2018, while heading to Bilbao's Loiu airport to travel to Ghana, he was unhurt following a car accident.[33]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played on 31 December 2020.[34][35]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			Cup		League Cup		Europe		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Elche	2008–09	Segunda División	16	0	0	0	–	–	–	–	16	0
	2009–10		26	0	0	0	–	–	–	–	26	0
	2010–11		16	1	2	1	–	–	–	–	18	2
	Total		58	1	2	1	0	0	0	0	60	2
Villarreal B	2010–11	Segunda División	5	1	–	–	–	–	–	–	5	1
	Total		5	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	1
Villarreal	2010–11	La Liga	11	0	–	–	–	–	4	0	15	0
	2011–12		6	0	0	0	–	–	4	0	10	0
	Total		17	0	0	0	0	0	8	0	25	0
Espanyol	2012–13	La Liga	26	3	1	0	–	–	–	–	27	3
	Total		26	3	1	0	0	0	0	0	27	3
Rubin Kazan	2013–14	Russian Premier League	14	2	0	0	–	–	4	0	18	2
	2014–15		2	0	–	–	–	–	–	–	2	0
	Total		16	2	0	0	0	0	4	0	20	2
Celtic	2014–15	Scottish Premiership	5	0	–	–	1	0	5	1	11	1
	Total		5	0	0	0	1	0	5	1	11	1
Las Palmas	2015–16	La Liga	20	1	4	1	–	–	–	–	24	2
	Total		20	1	4	1	0	0	0	0	24	2
Panathinaikos	2016–17	Superleague Greece	8	1	1	0	–	–	7	0	16	1
	Total223		8	1	1	0	–	–	7	0	16	1
Granada	2016–17	La Liga	11	1	0	0	–	–	–	–	11	1
	Total		11	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	11	1
Alavés	2017–18	La Liga	21	0	3	0	–	–	–	–	24	0
	2018–19		29	1	0	0	–	–	–	–	29	1
	2019–20		16	0	1	0	–	–	–	–	17	0
	Total		66	1	4	0	–	–	–	–	70	1
Jiangsu Suning	2020	Chinese Super League	18	0	1	0	–	–	–	–	19	0
	Total		18	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	19	0
Career total			250	11	13	2	1	0	24	1	288	14

International

As of matches played on 15 July 2019[36]

Ghana
Year	Apps	Goals
2012	2	1
2013	13	6
2014	10	1
2015	14	3
2016	6	1
2017	6	0
2018	1	0
2019	6	0
Total	58	12

International goals

[36][22][37][34][38]

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	14 November 2012	Estádio Universitário, Lisbon, Portugal	Cape Verde	1–0	1–0	Friendly
2	13 January 2013	Sheikh Zayed, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates	Tunisia	2–2	4–2	Friendly
3	24 January 2013	Nelson Mandela Bay, Port Elizabeth, South Africa	Mali	1–0	1–0	2013 Africa Cup of Nations
4	2 February 2013	Nelson Mandela Bay, Port Elizabeth, South Africa	Cape Verde	1–0	2–0	2013 Africa Cup of Nations
5				2–0	2–0
6	6 February 2013	Mbombela, Nelspruit, South Africa	Burkina Faso	1–0	1–1	2013 Africa Cup of Nations
7	24 March 2013	Baba Yara, Kumasi, Ghana	Sudan	2–0	4–0	2014 World Cup qualification
8	19 November 2014	Tamale Stadium, Tamale, Ghana	Togo	2–0	3–1	2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
9	5 February 2015	Nuevo Estadio, Malabo, Equatorial Guinea	Equatorial Guinea	2–0	3–0	2015 Africa Cup of Nations
10	5 September 2015	Amahoro, Kigali, Rwanda	Rwanda	1–0	3–0	2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
11	17 November 2015	Baba Yara, Kumasi, Ghana	Comoros	1–0	2–0	2018 World Cup qualification
12	11 October 2016	Moses Mabhida, Durban, South Africa	South Africa	1–0	1–1	Friendly

Honours

Club

Jiangsu Suning FC

• Chinese Super League: 2020[39]

International

Ghana

• Africa Cup of Nations runner-up: 2015[40]

Individual

• Africa Cup of Nations top scorer: 2013 (4 goals)[41]
• Africa Cup of Nations Team of the Tournament: 2017[42]

References

1. El ghanés Wakaso Mubarak empieza a dejar constancia de sus 'poderes' (Ghanaian Wakaso Mubarak starts showing his 'powers'); La Verdad, July 2008 (in Spanish)
2. Wakaso Mubarak, cielo e infierno en un mismo lugar (Wakaso Mubarak, heaven and hell in the same place); Rayo Herald, 16 December 2010 (in Spanish)
3. El Elche despide al ghanés Wakaso Mubarak (Elche fire Ghanaian Wakaso Mubarak) Archived 7 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine; El Diario Vasco, 31 January 2011 (in Spanish)
4. Last-gasp Nilmar earns point; ESPN Soccernet, 27 February 2011
5. "Wakaso ficha por el Espanyol" [Wakaso ficha por el Espanyol] (in Spanish). Mundo Deportivo. 11 July 2012. Retrieved 21 September 2013.
6. МУБАРАК ВАКАСО ПЕРЕШЕЛ В "РУБИН" [Mubarak Wakaso moved to Rubin] (in Russian). FC Rubin Kazan. 28 August 2013. Archived from the original on 2 September 2013. Retrieved 28 August 2013.
7. "Rubin: We had to let Wakaso go to Celtic". Evening Times. 23 August 2014. Retrieved 23 August 2014.
8. "FC Red Bull Salzburg 2–2 Celtic". BBC Sport. 18 September 2014. Retrieved 18 September 2014.
9. "Wakaso, centrocampista internacional ghanés, llega cedido del Rubin Kazan" [Wakaso, Ghanaian international midfielder, arrives on loan from Rubin Kazan] (in Spanish). UD Las Palmas. 30 August 2015. Archived from the original on 2 September 2015. Retrieved 31 August 2015.
10. "Υπέγραψε συμβόλαιο τριετούς διάρκειας ο Γουακάσο" [Wakaso signed a three-year contract] (in Greek). Sport 24. 10 July 2016. Retrieved 10 July 2016.
11. "Panathinaikos 1–2 Ajax". UEFA. 16 September 2016. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
12. ""Καμπάνα" από UEFA σε Παναθηναϊκό και Γουακάσο" (in Greek). Naftemporiki. 8 October 2016. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
13. "Wakaso joins Granada on loan". Goal. 1 February 2017. Retrieved 1 February 2017.
14. "Wakaso joins Granada on loan from Panathinaikos". Citi FM Online. 1 February 2017. Retrieved 1 February 2017.
15. "El Granada resucita ante un Alavés moribundo" [Granada come back to life against dying Alavés] (in Spanish). El País. 2 March 2017. Retrieved 10 March 2017.
16. "Mubarak Wakaso terminates Panathinaikos contract". Goal. 16 July 2017. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
17. "El Deportivo Alavés ficha a Wakaso para las tres próximas temporadas" [Deportivo Alavés sign Wakaso for the following three seasons] (in Spanish). Deportivo Alavés. 17 July 2017. Retrieved 18 July 2017.
18. "El Alavés finaliza la temporada con victoria y manda al Girona a Segunda" [Alavés end season with win and send Girona to Segunda] (in Spanish). EITB. 18 May 2019. Retrieved 20 January 2020.
19. "Wakaso cierra su etapa en el Deportivo Alavés" [Wakaso ends his spell at Deportivo Alavés] (in Spanish). Deportivo Alavés. 18 January 2020. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
20. Mubarak Wakaso – FIFA competition record
21. Ghana first to reach 2013 Nations Cup; Ghana Web, 13 October 2012
22. Paul, Simon (14 November 2012). "Cape Verde 0–1 Ghana: Mubarak Wakaso scores debut goal for Black Stars". Goal. Retrieved 19 November 2014.
23. Ghana 1–0 Mali; BBC Sport, 23 January 2013
24. "Ghana 2–0 Cape Verde". BBC Sport. 2 February 2013. Retrieved 6 February 2013.
25. "Ghana World Cup 2014 squad". The Daily Telegraph. 2 June 2014. Retrieved 21 June 2014.
26. "Germany, Ghana share spoils in Fortaleza thriller". FIFA. 21 June 2014. Retrieved 21 June 2014.
27. "Ghana 3–0 Equatorial Guinea". BBC Sport. 5 February 2015. Retrieved 6 February 2015.
28. "Violence halts African Nations Cup semi-final as Ghana beats Equatorial Guinea 3–0". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 5 February 2015. Retrieved 5 February 2015.
29. "Ivory Coast 0–0 Ghana". BBC Sport. 8 February 2015. Retrieved 8 February 2015.
30. Taiwo, Taiye (5 June 2018). "EXTRA TIME: Wakaso brothers link up with Jordan Ayew". Goal. Retrieved 26 June 2019.
31. Freeman Yeboah, Thomas (7 January 2019). "Mubarak Wakaso celebrates Alhassan Wakaso on his 26th birthday". Pulse Ghana. Retrieved 26 June 2019.
32. "Footballer flashing 'Allah is Great' T-shirt escapes punishment". The Muslim News. 8 March 2013. Archived from the original on 7 April 2014. Retrieved 4 April 2014.
33. Fajah Barrie, Mohamed (7 October 2018). "Mubarak Wakaso: Ghana midfielder escapes unhurt from car accident". BBC Sport. Retrieved 9 October 2018.
34. Mubarak Wakaso at Soccerway. Retrieved 19 November 2014.
35. "Mubarak, Wakaso". Fitbastats. Retrieved 19 November 2014.
36. Mubarak Wakaso at National-Football-Teams.com
37. Gyimah, Edmund Okai (13 January 2013). "Ghana 4–2 Tunisia: Black Stars came from behind to beat Carthage Eagles". Goal. Retrieved 19 November 2014.
38. Swaby, Sean (19 November 2014). "Wakaso Mubarak scores incredible goal from distance for Ghana against Togo". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 19 November 2014.
39. "Inspired Teixeira drags Jiangsu to first Chinese Super League title". France 24. 12 November 2020. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
40. Hughes, Ian (8 February 2015). "Ivory Coast 0–0 Ghana". BBC Sport. Retrieved 8 August 2019.
41. Okai Gyimah, Edmund (8 February 2013). "Valencia to make summer swoop for Espanyol's Mubarak Wakaso". Goal. Retrieved 8 August 2019.
42. "Bassogog named Total Man of the Competition". CAF Online. 6 February 2017. Retrieved 2 August 2019.

External links

• Mubarak Wakaso at BDFutbol
• Mubarak Wakaso at Futbolme (in Spanish)
• Official website