Isaac Atanga (born 14 June 2000) 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

right winger In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

for Swedish club

Kalmar FF Kalmar Fotbollförening, more commonly known as Kalmar FF, is a Swedish professional football club based in Kalmar, Sweden. The club is affiliated to Smålands Fotbollförbund and play their home games at Guldfågeln Arena. Formed on 15 June 1 ...

Club career

FC Nordsjælland

Atanga was born in

Nkoranza Nkoranza (or Nkoransa) is a town located in the mid-north of Ghana. It is the district capital of the Nkoranza District in the Bono East Region. A leading Brong town, the town led the 1892-93 Brong rebellion against the Ashanti. Nkoranza is ...

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 ...

and was a part of the academy at Right to Dream and joined

FC Nordsjælland Football Club Nordsjælland, commonly known as FC Nordsjælland, Nordsjælland () or FCN, is a professional Danish association football, football team from the North Zealand town of Farum. Founded as ''Farum Boldklub'' from the merger of the to ...

in the summer 2018. Since Right to Dream is a cooperative academy to Nordsjælland, Atanga had already played a friendly game for

in February 2018 against

FC Roskilde Football Club Roskilde is a Danish professional association football club based in Roskilde, Region Zealand. They will compete in the Danish 1st Division in the 2024–25 season following their promotion. They play at Roskilde Idrætspark (also k ...

. He made his FC Nordsjælland debut on 14 April 2019, replacing

Oliver Antman Oliver Antman (born 15 August 2001) is a Finnish professional footballer who plays as a winger for Eredivisie club Go Ahead Eagles, and the Finland national team. Youth career Antman started football in his hometown Vantaa in a youth team of ...

in the 73rd minute in a 2–1 victory against

Esbjerg fB Esbjerg forenede Boldklubber (; commonly known as Esbjerg fB or EfB in short) is a Danish professional Association football, football club based in Esbjerg, West Jutland, Jylland, that plays in the Danish 1st Division, 1st division, the sec ...

in the

Danish Superliga The Danish Superliga (, ) is a professional association football league in Denmark and the highest level of the Danish football league system. The league is currently contested by 12 teams each year, with 2 teams relegated. It is the current ...

. He played with shirt number 35 on his back. Atanga had had a good season for the U-19 squad before his first team debut, scoring 9 goals in 15 games. On 14 July 2019, Atanga scored his first professional goal for Nordsjælland in the first game of the season against

AC Horsens Alliance Club Horsens (), commonly referred to as AC Horsens () or simply Horsens, is a Danish professional football club based in Horsens, Central Denmark Region. Founded in 1994, as a superstructure on Horsens fS (founded 1915), Stensballe ...

, a game Nordsjælland won 3–0. He also scored one goal in the following game against

FC Midtjylland Football Club Midtjylland (, "Central Jutland") is a Danish professional football club based in Herning and Ikast. The club is the result of a merger between Ikast FS and Herning Fremad. Midtjylland competes in the Danish Superliga, which they ...

. On 25 July 2019, the club announced that they had extended Atanga's contract until 2023.

FC Cincinnati

On 31 March 2021, Atanga joined

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

side

FC Cincinnati Football Club Cincinnati is an American professional soccer club based in Cincinnati. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team was first announced on August 12, 2015 as a United Soccer Leag ...

, signing a three-year contract. He made his debut for the club on 1 May 2021 against Orlando City, starting in the 3–0 defeat. Atanga scored his first goal for FC Cincinnati on 27 August 2021 against

Columbus Crew The Columbus Crew are an American professional soccer club based in Columbus, Ohio. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. The team began play in 1996 as one of the 10 cha ...

but couldn't prevent the 3–2 defeat.

Later clubs

On 7 August 2022 it was confirmed, that Atanga had joined newly relegated Turkish

TFF First League The TFF 1. Lig (), currently referred to as Trendyol 1. Lig for sponsorship reasons, is the second level of the Turkish football league system. The league was founded in 2001 as the ''Turkish Second League Category A'' after the reorganization ...

club Göztepe on a one-year loan deal with a purchase option. On 1 April 2023, Atanga signed with

Eliteserien Eliteserien () is a professional association football league in Norway and the highest level of the Norwegian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the Norwegian First Division ...

side Aalesund for an undisclosed fee. On 17 August 2024, Atanga joined

Veikkausliiga Veikkausliiga () is a professional association football league in Finland and the highest level of the Finnish football league system. The league comprises the top 12 clubs of the country. Its main sponsor is the Finnish national betting agenc ...

club

Ilves Tampereen Ilves, commonly known as Ilves, (; Finnish language, Finnish for "Eurasian lynx, Lynx") is a Finnish professional ice hockey team based in Tampere. They play in the Liiga at the Nokia Arena (Tampere), Nokia Arena. The colors of Ilves, ...

in Finland on loan for the remainder of the season with an option to buy. However, Ilves did not exercise their option to buy and Atanga returned to Aalesund after just five games and two goals. On January 25, 2025 it was confirmed that Atanga swapped Norway for Sweden when he signed a 2-year deal with

Career statistics

Honours

Ilves *

runner-up:

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

Ilveksen päävalmentaja hopeasta: ”Voitettu mitali”

Yle Yleisradio Oy (; ), abbreviated as Yle () (formerly styled in all uppercase until 2012), translated into English as the Finnish Broadcasting Company, is Finland's national public broadcasting company, founded in 1926. It is a joint-stock comp ...

, 19 October 2024

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Atanga, Isaac 2000 births Living people Ghanaian men's footballers Men's association football wingers FC Nordsjælland players FC Cincinnati players FC Cincinnati 2 players Aalesunds FK players Ilves (football) players Kalmar FF players Danish Superliga players MLS Next Pro players Major League Soccer players TFF 1. Lig players Eliteserien players Norwegian First Division players Norwegian Second Division players Norwegian Third Division players Veikkausliiga players Ghanaian expatriate men's footballers Ghanaian expatriate sportspeople in Denmark Ghanaian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Ghanaian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Ghanaian expatriate sportspeople in Norway Ghanaian expatriate sportspeople in Finland Ghanaian expatriate sportspeople in Sweden Expatriate men's footballers in Denmark Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Expatriate men's footballers in Norway Expatriate men's footballers in Finland Expatriate men's footballers in Sweden Göztepe S.K. footballers 21st-century Ghanaian sportsmen