Richmond Forson

Richmond Forson

Personal information
Full name	Richmond Forson
Date of birth	(1980-05-23) May 23, 1980
Place of birth	Aflao, Ghana
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Playing position	Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Yzeure
Youth career
1995–1997	Sporting Club de Lomé
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1997–2001	FC Metz B	23	(1)
2001–2002	Louhans-Cuiseaux	6	(1)
2002–2004	Luçon
2004–2005	FC Sète	1	(0)
2005–2006	Le Poiré-sur-Vie	21	(0)
2006–2008	AS Cherbourg Football	22	(0)
2008–2010	Thouars Foot 79
2010–2012	Chauvigny
2012–	Yzeure	0	(0)
National team‡
2001–	Togo	18	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 19:04, 30 January 2012 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 19:04, 30 January 2012 (UTC)

Richmond Forson (born 23 May 1980 in Aflao, Ghana) is a naturalized Togolese football midfielder, who plays for AS Yzeure in the Championnat de France amateur.

Career

As a youngster who started out with Sporting Club de Lome, Forson moved to France to FC Metz. His early promise which saw interest in him by such big clubs as Arsenal was almost eliminated when in 2001, while only 21, he was the victim of a serious road accident in France which left him unable to play for almost a year. Determined to get his career back on track, Forson then played as a defender for Lucon, FC Sete and an amateur team SJA Le Poiré-sur-Vie.

Following the 2006 World Cup from January 2007 - August 2008, Forson played two seasons for AS Cherbourg Football in the French Championnat National. In 2008 after a falling out with the coach having lost his place in the side following a period with injury, he left AS Cherbourg Football and moved to Thouars Foot 79. On 30 January 2012, Forson signed for Championnat de France amateur side AS Yzeure along with David Pathinvo and Guinean international Aboubacar Sylla.

Ghana & Togo Naturalized

Forson is the second football player originally from Ghana who plays for Togo. The other is Éric Akoto.

Forson remains one of Togo's best defenders. He is a fast and a powerful striker of the ball and strong in the air.

Additional information

Forson speaks both English and French. As a youngster, Forson had the choice of playing for Ghana, the country of his birth, or Togo, where he grew up, and he chose Togo. He holds passports from France, Ghana and Togo.

International

While still an amateur player; Forson became a member of the Togo national team. His national debut came in mai 2001 in Togo (Togo vs Senegal) 1-0. His revelation was in a four countries tournament in Iran (Paraguay, Uruguay, Iran and Togo). He was called up to the squad to participate in the 2006 World Cup where he started in two games vs France and Switzerland. Both games resulted in 2-0 losses though Forson played strongly in the game vs France, effectively marking and containing French strikers like Thierry HenryRibery,Govou and Maoulida.

His top performance in the World Cup re-established his career after several wilderness years.

At the 2006 World Cup, Forson was involved in the bonus disupte where the entire Togo threatened to go on strike after the national federation failed to pay the bonus money that was owed to the players. The situation was resolved with a partial payment to the players.

In January 2010, Forson was on a bus with the rest of the Togolese Football team which was travelling to the Africa Cup of Nations, when the bus was attacked by gunmen for over 20 minutes causing three casualties.

Midfielder Richmond Forson claimed the number of injuries would have been much worse had the gunmen not originally fired on the wrong bus. He said: "It was the bus carrying our baggage, which was in front of us, which they fired on the most. They thought we were in the bus in front, fortunately for us. That's what saved us. "Then they fired on our driver and those who were in front. The windscreen was shattered by the first bullets.

External links

• Richmond Forson – FIFA competition record
• Career stats - L'Equipe
• Richmond Forson at National-Football-Teams.com