Riga Mustapha

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

Riga Mustapha
Personal information
Full name Rahamat Riga Mustapha
Date of birth (1981-10-10) 10 October 1981
Place of birth Accra, Ghana
Height 1.82 m (5 ft 11 1⁄2 in)
Position(s) Striker
Youth career
Vitesse Arnhem
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1998–2003 Vitesse Arnhem 31 (1)
2000–2001 → RBC Roosendaal (loan) 8 (0)
2003–2005 Sparta Rotterdam 68 (26)
2005–2008 Levante 104 (28)
2008–2011 Bolton Wanderers 18 (0)
2011 Cartagena 10 (0)
2013–2014 Pune 17 (7)
National team
1996–1997 Netherlands U16 9 (2)
1997–1998 Netherlands U17 7 (1)
1998–2000 Netherlands U18 16 (1)
2000–2001 Netherlands U19 12 (1)
2001–2002 Netherlands U20 7 (1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 08:35, 19 May 2014 (UTC)

Club 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 a total of 30 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 competitive 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 career

Despite being born in Ghana, Mustapha has in the past represented the national youth teams of the Netherlands for over 90 times, making him one of few to have reached that mark.

Career statistics
As of 4 April 2014[10][11][12]
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
Pune 2013-14 I-League 17731632611
Career total 149351136316641

References
  1. "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. "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. Riga Mustapha at Soccerway
  11. "Riga Mustapha". Soccerbase. Retrieved 6 February 2014.
  12. "Mustapha". BDFutbol. Retrieved 6 February 2014.
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