Brimah Razak (born 22 June 1987) is a Ghanaian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

for

Segunda Federación Segunda Federación, previously called Segunda RFEF, also officially known as Segunda B, is the fourth tier of the Spanish football league system containing 90 teams divided into five groups. It is administered by the Royal Spanish Football Fede ...

club

Calahorra Calahorra (; ; ) is a municipality in the Spanish autonomous community and province of La Rioja. During Ancient Roman times, Calahorra was a municipium known as ''Calagurris Nassica Iulia''. Location The city is located on a hill at an altitude ...

. He spent most of his career in Spain, representing

Guadalajara Guadalajara ( ; ) is the capital and the most populous city in the western Mexican List of states of Mexico, state of Jalisco, as well as the most densely populated municipality in Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population ...

, Mirandés and

Córdoba Córdoba most commonly refers to: * Córdoba, Spain, a major city in southern Spain and formerly the imperial capital of Islamic Spain * Córdoba, Argentina, the second largest city in Argentina and the capital of Córdoba Province Córdoba or Cord ...

in the

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

. He also played professionally in Portugal and South Africa, winning the Premier Division with

Mamelodi Sundowns Mamelodi Sundowns Football Club (simply known as Sundowns) is a South African professional football club based in Mamelodi, Pretoria in the Gauteng province that plays in the Premiership, the first tier of South African football league syste ...

. Razak appeared in two

Africa Cup of Nations The Africa Cup of Nations, commonly abbreviated as AFCON and officially known as the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, is the main biennial international men's association football competition in Africa. It is s ...

editions with

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

, having made his debut in 2013.

Club career

Early career

After rarely settling as a youth player,

Accra Accra (; or ''Gaga''; ; Ewe: Gɛ; ) is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , had a population of ...

-born Razak started his professional career in January 2007 with Portugal's

G.D. Chaves Grupo Desportivo de Chaves (), commonly known as Chaves, is a Portuguese professional association football, football football team, club from Chaves, Portugal, Chaves currently playing in the Liga Portugal 2, following their relegation from the Pr ...

, playing in the country's Segunda Liga. The following year he moved down to the third division and joined

Madeira Madeira ( ; ), officially the Autonomous Region of Madeira (), is an autonomous Regions of Portugal, autonomous region of Portugal. It is an archipelago situated in the North Atlantic Ocean, in the region of Macaronesia, just under north of ...

C.F. União Clube de Futebol União, commonly known as União da Madeira, was a Portuguese association football, football club based in Funchal, Madeira, notable for its six season in the Portuguese top-flight Primeira Liga, between the 1989–90 Primeira D ...

, being first choice as they placed second their regional group – albeit without a final promotion.

Poli Ejido

In the summer of 2008, Razak returned to a club he had already represented as a youth,

Polideportivo Ejido Poli Ejido 2012 Sociedad Deportiva was a Spanish football team based in El Ejido, Province of Almería, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1969 and dissolved in 2012, it held home matches at '' Estadio Municipal Santo Domingo'' ...

in Spain's

Segunda División B Segunda División B (English: second division B) was the third tier of the Spanish football league system containing 102 teams divided into five groups, until it was replaced by the new structure in 2021. It was administered by the Royal Spanish ...

. He backed up veteran

Joaquín Valerio Joaquín Enrique Valerio Olivera (born 12 January 1973) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Club career Born in Badalona, Barcelona, Catalonia, Valerio began his senior career with Real Madrid Castilla, goin ...

in a sole season.

Betis

Razak signed with

Real Betis Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Seville, Andalusia, Spain. It plays in La Liga, the Spanish football league system, top flight of Spanish football. It plays home ...

in 2009, but spent his first year in the same league as the previous campaign, as he appeared solely for the reserve side. He was promoted to the first team for

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

, with the

Andalusia Andalusia ( , ; , ) is the southernmost autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain, located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomou ...

ns in the

. Razak made his competitive debut on 1 September 2010, playing the full 90 minutes in a

Copa del Rey The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanis ...

game against

UD Salamanca Unión Deportiva Salamanca, S.A.D. () was a historical Spanish football team based in Salamanca, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Founded on 9 February 1923 and nicknamed ''Los Charros'', the club played in white shirts and black ...

, a 2–1 home win.

Journeyman

Razak alternated between the second and third tier of

Spanish football Football is the most popular sport in Spain, with 61% of the population interested in it. Spain has some of the most influential teams in Europe (Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atlético de Madrid, Sevilla, Valencia, and others) as well as many playe ...

in the following years, representing

CD Tenerife Club Deportivo Tenerife, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club based in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Tenerife, in the Canary Islands. Founded in 1922, the club plays in the Segunda División, holding home matches at the Estadio Heliodoro Rodríguez L� ...

CD Guadalajara Club Deportivo Guadalajara S.A de C.V. (;), nicknamed ''"Chivas"'' () and simply known as Guadalajara or internationally as Chivas de Guadalajara, is a Mexican professional Association football, football club based in the Guadalajara metropolit ...

Córdoba CF B Córdoba Club de Fútbol "B" is a Spanish football team based in Córdoba, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1951 as Club Atlético Almagro, it is the reserve team of Córdoba CF and currently plays in , holding home games at ' ...

and

CD Mirandés Club Deportivo Mirandés is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Miranda de Ebro, Province of Burgos, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Founded on 3 May 1927, the club competes in the Segunda División ...

. On 29 July 2015 he returned to Córdoba, now being assigned to the main squad also in division two.

Mamelodi Sundowns

In August 2017, Razak moved to

Mamelodi Sundowns FC Mamelodi Sundowns Football Club (simply known as Sundowns) is a South African professional football club based in Mamelodi, Pretoria in the Gauteng province that plays in the Premiership, the first tier of South African football league syste ...

; he signed a three-year contract as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

, stating in an interview that his reason for joining was because the club was the best in the

South African Premier Division The South African Premiership, also known as the Betway Premiership for sponsorship reasons, and commonly referred to as the PSL after its governing body, is a professional soccer league in South Africa and the highest level of the South Afric ...

and in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

. He made his debut on 11 September, in a 2–1 away victory over Free State Stars FC. In his only season, he acted as backup to

Denis Onyango Denis Masinde Onyango (born 15 May 1985) is a Ugandan professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for South African Premier Soccer League club Mamelodi Sundowns. Having begun his career in his native country, Onyango went on to play in th ...

for the champions. Razak parted ways with the Sundowns in August 2018 by mutual consent, citing a lack of playing time.

Linares Deportivo

Razak joined

Linares Deportivo Linares Deportivo () is a Spanish football team based in Linares, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 2009 as a replacement for dissolved CD Linares, it plays in Segunda Federación – Group 4. The team's stadium is '' Estadio ...

of the Spanish

Tercera División Tercera División () was the fourth tier of the Spanish football league system. Until 1977, it was the third tier of the Spanish football league system. Founded in 1929, it was below the ''Primera División'' (also known as La Liga), the ''Segund ...

in July 2019, on a one-year deal. He helped the team to gain promotion in his debut campaign with 75 points, 27 more than their closest challengers

CD El Ejido Club Polideportivo El Ejido 1969 is a Spanish football club based in El Ejido, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1989 under the name of El Ejido Fútbol Sala (was only a futsal club until 2012), it currently plays in . Histor ...

after 29 matches before the season was truncated due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. and the player was voted as the best goalkeeper after he conceded 13 goals in 25 appearances. Brimah_Razak_AFCON_final_2015

In August 2020, Razak extended his contract with the club by another year. In

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

, he helped the side reach the

promotion play-offs Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

for the first time in 13 years; they lost at that stage, but were promoted to the newly formed

Primera División RFEF Primera may refer to * Nissan Primera, a car * Primera Air, a former airline * Primera división (disambiguation), multiple top division football leagues * Primera, Texas, a town in Cameron County, Texas * Alí Primera Ely Rafael Primera Ros ...

. He was selected for the Team of the Season and voted best goalkeeper, having kept 15

clean sheets In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which the losing team fails to score. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usually seen as a result of ...

International career

Razak earned the first of his 27

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

for

on 14 August 2013, appearing in a 2–2 friendly draw in

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

as a 46th-minute substitute. He was part of the squad that appeared in the

2015 Africa Cup of Nations The 2015 Africa Cup of Nations, known as the Orange Africa Cup of Nations, Equatorial Guinea 2015 for sponsorship reasons, was the 30th staging of the Africa Cup of Nations, the international men's football championship of Africa. It was org ...

, being first choice as the nation reached the final; in the decisive match, against the

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire and officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital city of Yamoussoukro is located in the centre of the country, while its largest List of ci ...

, he missed his

penalty shootout The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

attempt in an eventual 9–8 loss. Razak also started in the 2017 edition, a fourth-place finish in

Gabon Gabon ( ; ), officially the Gabonese Republic (), is a country on the Atlantic coast of Central Africa, on the equator, bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north, the Republic of the Congo to the east and south, and ...

. Following criticism of his performances, he posted a video on

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

that was perceived as disrespectful towards his compatriots, and was handed a $2,500 fine by the

Ghana Football Association The Ghana Football Association (GFA) is the sports governing body, governing body of association football in Ghana, based in the capital city, Accra. Founded in 1957 to replace the Gold Coast (British colony), Gold Coast Football Association whi ...

Personal life

Razak fathered son Nasser and daughter Atu, referring to them as being his ''''biggest idols and his life''.'' He idolised Ghanaian international goalkeeper Sammy Adjei, who won many laurels whilst playing for

Accra Hearts of Oak S.C. Accra Hearts of Oak Sporting Club, commonly referred to as Hearts of Oak or just Hearts, is a professional sports team, sports club based in Accra (Greater Accra Region, Greater Accra), Ghana. Founded in 1911, the club is the oldest surviving ...

and was also remembered for the

1999 FIFA World Youth Championship The 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship took place in Nigeria between 3 and 24 April 1999. This was the 12th edition of the tournament. Qualification The following 24 teams qualified for the 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship. :1.Teams tha ...

quarter-final tie against

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. On 28 June 2023, Razak married his longtime girlfriend (also the mother of his children) in Spain.

Career statistics

International

Honours

Mamelodi Sundowns *

: 2017–18 Linares Deportivo *

: 2019–20 Ghana *

runner-up:

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

Individual *

Best Goalkeeper:

*Segunda División B Team of the season:

*Tercera División Best Goalkeeper: 2019–20

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Razak, Brimah 1987 births Living people 21st-century Ghanaian sportsmen Ghanaian men's footballers Footballers from Accra Men's association football goalkeepers Liga Portugal 2 players Segunda Divisão players G.D. Chaves players C.F. União players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players Primera Federación players Segunda Federación players Polideportivo Ejido footballers Betis Deportivo Balompié footballers Real Betis players CD Tenerife players CD Guadalajara (Spain) footballers Córdoba CF B players CD Mirandés footballers Córdoba CF players Linares Deportivo footballers CD Calahorra players South African Premier Division players Mamelodi Sundowns F.C. players Ghana men's international footballers 2015 Africa Cup of Nations players 2017 Africa Cup of Nations players Ghanaian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's soccer players in South Africa Ghanaian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Ghanaian expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Ghanaian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Ghanaian expatriate sportspeople in South Africa