Ghanaian defender Rashid Sumaila joined Crvena zvezda on 28 June 2018 and continued a streak of players from this African country. Let’s take a look at all Black Stars who played for our club. After Brazil, Ghana has given the most foreign players for Serbia's biggest club. Here we remember our Ghanaians.
Haminu Draman was the first Ghanaian to sign for us when he arrived from Heart of Lions F.C. in 2005. A talented 19-year-old attacking full back, he was blighted by various injuries and was restricted to only seven games, but he did manage to score once. He left after just a year he signed for Gençlerbirliği S.K. in Turkey and has later played for Lokomotiv Moskva and Kuban in Russia, Arles-Avignon in France, Gil Vicente in Portugal, Asante Kotoko back in Ghana, Charlotte Independence in the USA’s United Soccer League. He’s still playing at the age of 32, turning up for FC Infonet Tallinn in Estonia. He famously scored for Ghana in their 2006 World Cup win over United States. He made a total of 43 appearances for The Black Stars, scoring four goals.
Mohammed-Awal Issah joined Crvena zvezda in late 2008 after impressing on trial. He arrived from South African club AmaZulu F.C. where he played after leaving his first club Real Sportive in Tema, Ghana. The strong midfielder spent two seasons in red-and-white, playing 80 games and scoring once. He left for Norwegian club Rosenborg BK and has often spoke about his happy Belgrade memories. It was a frantic period at the club, so Issah was managed by SIX Head Coaches in such a short time: Čedomir Janevski, Siniša Gogić, Vladimir Petrović, Ratko Dostanić, Aleksandar Kristić and Robert Prosinečki.
Lee Addy was signed from Berekum Chelsea F.C. in the summer of 2010. A quick central defender, Lee showed some fine moves in his 36 matches at Zvezda, but was gone after just a season in a big-money move to Chinese side Dalian Yifang F.C. He was back in the region in 2013 when he signed for Dinamo Zagreb, but spent two rather underwhelming years in Croatia. He then returned to Serbia in 2015, signing for Čukarički, but was gone after making just eight appearances for the Belgrade club. The 30-times capped Black Star is currently playing for Lusaka Dynamos F.C. in Zambia.
Nathaniel Asamoah was brough to the club back in early 2012 from Asante Kotoko after he’s started out at Wa All Stars. Little striker scored just once in his 19-month spell in Belgrade, failing to establish himself in Robert Prosinečki’s side, totalling 15 appearances. He returned to Ghana with Medeama before going on to join Raja Club Athletic in Casablanca, Morocco. He’s now back in his homeland with Aduana Stars F.C. He has eight Ghana caps to his name.
Abraham Akwasi Frimpong had an interesting career already when he joined Zvezda in January 2017 from Napredak. The Accra-born defender arrived to Serbia in 2011 from Italy, where he’d spent time with Vicenza Calcio’s Academy. He impressed on a trial with FK Partizan, but our rivals missed out on his signature and he ended up signing for Vojvodina. He wasn’t given an opportunity to play in Novi Sad, though, and was transferred to Napredak. He spent five years in Kruševac and endeared himself to the fans by staying put despite their relagation in 2015. He was signed by Miodrag Božović’s Crvena zvezda in early 2017 and played quite a bit in the second half of 2016/17 season. Last season, however, he was used as backup and has recently left to Hungary to sign for Ferencvárosi TC.
Richmond Yiadom Boakye was arguably the pick of the bunch as he proved an instant hit when he arrived on loan in early 2017 on loan from Italian side Latina Calcio. Former Juventus, Genoa, Elche and Roda JC hitman bagged an impressive 16 goals in 19 matches as Zvezda just missed out on the Superliga title. He became a free agent when Latina Calcio folded at the end of that season and was free to choose his next destination with many clubs after him. Somewhat surprisingly he elected to sign for Crvena zvezda and made himself a firm fans favorite at Rajko Mitić Stadium. He enjoyed his time in Belgrade as he grabbed another 23 goals for the red-and-whites before signing for Jiangsu Suning F.C. in February 2018. He was capped 13 times for the Black Stars and has scored five goals.
Rashid Sumaila is our latest Ghanaian star, arriving on loan from Qadsia SC in Kuwait. There is a good chance that his transfer will be made permanent after his loan spell finishes. So, good luck, Rashid. You’re the latest Black Star for our Red Star!