Richmond Forson
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Richmond Forson | ||
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) | ||
| Position(s) | midfielder | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Thouars Foot 79 | ||
| Number | 11 | ||
| ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 23 June 2006 | |||
Richmond Forson (born 23 May 1980 in Aflao, Ghana) is a naturalized Togolese football midfielder, who plays for Thouars Foot 79 in the Championnat de France amateur 2.
Career
As a youngster who started out with Sporting Club of 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[1].
Following the 2006 World Cup from January 2007 - August 2008, Forson played two seasons for AS Cherbourg Football in the French Championnat National[2]. 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[3].
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[4].
International
While still an amateur player; Forson became a member of the Togo national team. His national debut came on 11 November 2005 in a 2-4 loss to Paraguay. 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 striker Thierry Henry.
His top performance in the World Cup re-established his career after several wilderness years.
At the 2006 World Cup[5], 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[6].
References
- ^ Forson: "Es geht für uns auch um die Ehre" on www.kicker.de
- ^ Football: la fiche de Richmond Forson on on www.lequipe.fr
- ^ Cfa2 : Richmond Forson testé par Thouars - La Nouvelle République - on www.fr.newspeg.com
- ^ Profile & Stats on www.playerhistory.com
- ^ "Die Sperber" - Togos Nationalmannschaft on www.togo2006.de
- ^ FIFA.com - FIFA Spielerstatistik Richmond FORSON on www.de.fifa.com
External links
- Richmond Forson – FIFA competition record (archived)
- Career stats - L'Equipe
- Richmond Forson at National-Football-Teams.com
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Togo were disqualified from the tournament after missing their opening game against Ghana due to a terrorist attack. | ||
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