Rashid Sumaila (born 18 December 1992) is a

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 ...

ian 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

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

and he is also a member of the Ghana national team. Sumaila won the '' 2011 Ghana Best Defender Award'' at the end of the 2010–11 Glo Premier League season.

Clubs career

Astronomers to Venomous Vipers and Ebusua Dwarfs

Born in

Cape Coast Cape Coast is a city and the capital of the Cape Coast Metropolitan Assembly, Cape Coast Metropolitan District and the Central Region (Ghana), Central Region of Ghana, Ghana. It is located about from Sekondi-Takoradi and approximately from Ac ...

, Rashid Sumaila, affectionately known as Rash, began his playing career in the junior ranks of Cape Coast Adisadel-based Colts team named Astronomers where he excelled with performance and won almost everyone's hearts at the club. In the year 2008, a division 1 club Venomous Vipers who were monitoring him keenly had to approach management of Astronomers for his signature where he was their prime target for the 2008–2009 Division 1 season. Playing with tenacity and zeal Sumaila was then tipped as the next

Sergio Ramos Sergio Ramos García (; born 30 March 1986) is a Spanish professional Association football, footballer who plays as a centre-back for and captain (association football), captains Liga MX club C.F. Monterrey, Monterrey. Regarded as one of the gr ...

of Ghana football due to his consistency in the central defensive role. The praises and hails he had with the then division on club broke the news of his performances where

Ghana Premier League The Ghana Premier League is the top professional association football league in Ghana organized by the Ghana Football Association and formed in 1958 to replace a previous league incarnation, the Gold Coast Club Competition which ran from 1933 ...

Clubs were knocking heads to grab the young talented defender. Prior to his abysmal performances

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

club Ebusua Dwarfs signed him for the 2009–10 season where he progressed through the ranks at Ebusua Dwarfs and made his senior debut in the 2010–11 Glo Premier League season.

Asante Kotoko

The porcupine worries in 2012 were very full of joy when they signed their best man Sumaila from Ebusua Dwarfs who they were eyeing season ago to strengthen their central defense. As versatile as he was he played an integral part of Asante Kotoko S.C. 2012–13 season where he helped them to win the

. Notable for his tackles and strength in defense Sumaila's name was on everyone's lips of Asante Kotoko S.C. fans as he was referred as "We got our man" simply meaning they have fixed the defense now. French club

RC Lens Racing Club de Lens (), commonly referred to as RC Lens or simply as Lens, is a French professional football club based in the northern city of Lens in the department of Pas-de-Calais. The club's nickname, ''Les Sang et Or'' (), comes from i ...

took an interest in young powerful centre-back after his first

Ghana national football team The Ghana national football team represents Ghana in men's international Association football, football. The team is named the Black Stars after the Black Star of Africa in the flag of Ghana. It is governed by the Ghana Football Association, t ...

call-up on 15 November 2011.

Mamelodi Sundowns

Rashid arrived for the Masandawana boys from Asante Kotoko S.C. for a permanent deal where he had already won the

with the Porcupine worries. His arrival saw a massive turn around at

Mamelodi Sundowns F.C. Mamelodi Sundowns Football Club (simply known as Sundowns) is a South African professional Association football, football club based in Mamelodi, Pretoria in the Gauteng province that plays in the South African Premiership, Premiership, the fi ...

, he was very influential in the defence and played almost every match of the season where he helped them win the 2013–14

Premier Soccer League The Premier Soccer League (PSL) is the administrative body for professional soccer leagues and cups in South Africa. It is based in Johannesburg, and was founded in 1996 following an agreement between the National Soccer League and the remnant ...

(PSL) with them. Asante Kotoko (loan) Sumaila returned to Kotoko on a loan deal the following season from

but unfortunately the

was hit with setbacks and was on hold so he returned to the

Qadsia Sc

The Kuwaiti side Qadsia had earlier approached

for a loan fee of Sumaila where initially he had returned from Kototo as the

was not in progress so he landed up in Kuwait to sign a loan deal with

Qadsia SC Al Qadsia Sporting Club () is a professional football club based in Kuwait City. Al Qadsia was founded in 1953 as ''Al-Jazira'', before being renamed to ''Al Qadsia SC'' on 20 October 1960. Qadsia currently plays in the Kuwait Premier League ...

with an option to buy. He did offer his best to the Yellow Castles as they are called and helped them win the

Kuwait Emir Cup The Kuwait Amir/Emir Cup () is a Kuwaiti football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ...

for the 2014–15 season and by his hard works and dedication, he individually received the best Foreign Player in the Kuwait Premier League and Best Player of

respectively. As the 2015-2016 Season began Rashid Sumaila had already put pen to paper for an undisclosed fee and had established himself the preferred central defender in the team. The season was getting better and better for Sumaila as the winning kept on coming which saw them be the favourite for the League title, their efforts and cohesive play did not end up in vain and was one that got their hands for the trophy, they announced the Kuwait Premier League champions for the 2015–16 season.

Al Gharafa

Sumaila was a hot cake in the Middle East where clubs where chasing here and there so

Al-Gharafa SC Al-Gharafa Sports Club () is a Qatari multi-sports club based in the Al Gharrafa district of Al Rayyan municipality. The club is best known for its football team, although it also has teams for other sports. The club was established on 6 June ...

was fortunate enough to get a loan deal of him from their sister country Kuwait side

. What Sumaila brought there was passion and composure to the team, He was the deal and was ready to bring the team back on track so the 2016–17 season saw him outstanding in yellow and blue shirt no wonder he was voted club best player at the end of the season. Plans were, however, in advance to get him a permanent deal but

would not turn their attention either as they needed him back to complete his missions so Sumaila returned to his mother club to start the 2017–18 Kuwait Premier League season with the yellow castles.

Return to Qadsia Sc

Sumaila returned to his mother club

to begin the 2017–2018 Kuwait Premier League as an enforcer to the team. The season was going to be a good one the Yellow Castle where Sumaila produced one of his best season performances from defending to scoring some important few goals to push the team forward. Sumaila was yet fortunate again to win the 2017–2018 Kuwait Crown Prince Cup beating their neighbors and rivals

Kuwait SC Kuwait Sports Club () is a Kuwaiti professional football club based in Kuwait City. Their football team has won Kuwait Premier League 19 times and has won over 50 trophies overall. The club plays in the Al Kuwait Sports Club Stadium located i ...

in the final.

Red Star Belgrade

The quest for European football has always been the dream for Sumaila and a couple of them were knocking at his doors knowing the performances he had put in the seasons so far. On 28 June 2018 Sumaila joined the Serbian club

Red Star Belgrade Fudbalski klub Crvena zvezda ( sr-cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Црвена звезда, lit=Red Star Football Club), commonly referred to as Crvena zvezda () and colloquially referred to as Red Star Belgrade in anglophone media, is a ...

on one-year loan deal.

International career

Youth

Sumaila was part of the

Ghana national under-20 football team Ghana national U-20 football team known as the ''Black Satellites'', is considered to be the feeder team for the Ghana national football team. They are the former 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup, FIFA U-20 World Cup Champions and U-20 Africa Cup ...

at the 2011 African Youth Championship. Sumaila was a member of the Ghana national under-23 football team that won Ghana's first

All-Africa Games The African Games, formally known as the All-Africa Games or the Pan African Games, are a continental multi-sport event held every four years, organized by the African Union with the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa and the ...

football gold medal in the

Football at the 2011 All-Africa Games The 2011 All-Africa Games football tournament was held in Maputo, Mozambique between 4–17 September 2011 as part of the 2011 All-Africa Games and featured both a men's and women's African Games football tournament. The men's tournament feature ...

when they defeated South Africa national under-23 soccer team 4–2 on

penalty shoot-out 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 ...

at the Estádio do Zimpeto in

Maputo Maputo () is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Mozambique. Located near the southern end of the country, it is within of the borders with Eswatini and South Africa. The city has a population of 1,088,449 (as of 2017) distributed ov ...

Mozambique Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Afr ...

on 17 September 2011.

Senior

On 7 November 2011 Sumaila was called up to the

squad to face

Sierra Leone national football team The Sierra Leone national football team represents Sierra Leone in association football and is governed by the Sierra Leone Football Association. It has qualified for Africa Cup of Nations three times. History Sierra Leone's first match was at ...

and

Gabon national football team The Gabon national football team ( French: ''Équipe de football du Gabon'') represents Gabon in men's international football. The team's nickname is The Panthers and it is governed by the Gabonese Football Federation. They have never qualifie ...

. In December 2011, Sumaila was named to the

's provisional 25-man squad for the

2012 Africa Cup of Nations The 2012 Africa Cup of Nations, also known as the Orange Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 28th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the football championship of Africa organized by the Confederation of African Football (C ...

, but was not included by the Ghana national football team technical staff for the tournament's final 23-man squad. Sumaila who was in form at

caught the attention of coach Kwesi Appiah and was called to

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for list of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil fr ...

squad for Ghana as the final 23 squad list was announced. Ghana could not progress from the group stages but were the only team that the

Germany national football team The Germany national football team () represents Germany in men's international Association football, football and played its first match in 1908. The team is governed by the German Football Association (''Deutscher Fußball-Bund''), founded ...

could not beat in the tournament though they were the champions of the tournament. Ghana held them to a 2–2 draw which was one of the famous matches of the tournament.

Honours

Asante Kotoko *

: 2012–13Rashid Sumaila
at National-Football-Teams.com Mamelodi Sundowns *

: 2013–14 Qadsia *

: 2014–2015 * Kuwait Premier League: 2015–2016 *

Kuwait Crown Prince Cup The Crown Prince Cup () is a Kuwaiti annual football competition created in 1994. Previous winners *1994: Al-Kuwait *1995: Kazma *1996: Al Arabi *1997: Al Arabi *1998: Qadsia *1999: Al Arabi *2000: Al Arabi *2001: Al-Salmiya *2002: Qadsi ...

: 2017–2018 Red Star Belgrade *

Serbian SuperLiga The Serbian Super League (), also known as Mozzart SuperLiga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Serbia and the highest level of the Serbian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a sys ...

: 2018–19 Ghana U23 *

Gold medal:

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

Individual *

Best Defender: 2010–11 * Ghana Premier League Best Defender: 2012–13 * Ghana MTN FA Cup Best Defender: 2012–2013 * Kuwait Premier League Best Foreign player: 2014–15 * Kuwait Premier League Best Defender: 2015–16 *

Best Player of the season: 2014–15 *

Best Player of the season: 2016–17

References

External links

*
Sumaila keen on impressing with Black Stars
– MTNFootball.co {{DEFAULTSORT:Sumaila, Rashid 1992 births Living people Men's association football central defenders Cape Coast Ebusua Dwarfs players Ghanaian men's footballers Asante Kotoko S.C. players Ghana Premier League players Mamelodi Sundowns F.C. players Qadsia SC players Al-Gharafa SC players Muaither SC players 2014 FIFA World Cup players Ghana men's international footballers African Games gold medalists for Ghana African Games gold medalists in football People from Cape Coast Footballers from Central Region (Ghana) Qatar Stars League players Qatari Second Division players Red Star Belgrade footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Serbia Footballers at the 2011 All-Africa Games Medalists at the 2011 All-Africa Games 21st-century Ghanaian sportsmen Ghanaian expatriate men's footballers