Riga Mustapha

Riga Mustapha

Personal information
Full name	Rahamat Riga Mustapha
Date of birth	10 October 1981 (1981-10-10) (age 30)
Place of birth	Accra, Ghana
Height	1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)
Playing position	Right winger / Striker
Club information
Current club	Free agent
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1998–2003	Vitesse	31	(1)
2000–2001	→ RBC Roosendaal (loan)	8	(0)
2003–2005	Sparta Rotterdam	68	(26)
2005–2008	Levante	104	(28)
2008–2011	Bolton Wanderers	18	(0)
2011	Cartagena	10	(0)
National team‡
	Netherlands U21
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 16:45, 29 August 2009 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 11 August 2006

Rahamat Riga Mustapha, commonly known as Mustapha Riga (born 10 October 1981 in Accra, Ghana), is a Ghanaian-born Dutch footballer who most recently played for Segunda División club FC Cartagena. He can play as either a winger or a striker.

Career

Riga started his professional career in the Netherlands, playing for Vitesse Arnhem (1998–2003), RBC Roosendaal (2000–2001, a loan) and Sparta Rotterdam (2003–2005), for whom he scored 26 goals in two seasons.

In 2005, he joined Spain's Levante UD, and was instrumental in the Valencia side's return to the top flight, after a one-year absence (38 matches, 11 goals). In La Liga, Riga was also the club's top scorer in two seasons, at 9 and 8 goals respectively. During his time in Spain, he developed the name "The Bullet", due to his electric pace.

Riga signed a deal with Bolton Wanderers on July 28, 2008. The move was only made official on August 1, 2008 when he was granted international clearance. The following day, he made his debut in a friendly against Chorley, scoring in a 2–0 win. His Premier League debut came against Newcastle United in a 1–0 away loss on August 23, coming on in the 85th minute as a substitute.

Riga was unregistered and re-registered with the club in August 2009 so he could be given the squad number 10 and Ivan Klasnić could take his previous number, 17. The season after he was changed from number 10 to number 15. He was not included in Bolton's 24 man squad for the 2010/2011 season and had his contract terminated on 27 January 2011.^[1]

Riga signed a deal with the Spanish Segunda División outfit FC Cartagena on 22 March 2011.^[2]

On 28th September 2011 he played as a trialist, along with QPR's Lee Cook for Nottingham Forest's reserve team

References

1. ^ "Riga Departs". bwfc.co.uk (Bolton Wanderers). 27 January 2011. http://www.bwfc.co.uk/page/General/0,,1004~2278304,00.html. Retrieved 27 January 2011. 
2. ^ "Riga moves to Spain". Bolton News. 23 March 2011. http://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/sport/wanderers/wanderersnews/8929840.Riga_moves_to_Spain/?. Retrieved 23 March 2011. 

External links

• Mustapha Riga career stats at Soccerbase
• VI.nl profile (Dutch)
• Stats at Liga de Fútbol Profesional (Spanish)

Persondata
Name	Mustapha, Riga
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	10 October 1981
Place of birth	Accra, Ghana
Date of death
Place of death