Mubarak Wakaso

At the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations Mubarak Wakaso scored the winner against Mali and scored twice as Ghana beat Cape Verde 2-0 in the quarter-finals. Two years later he scored his penalty in the shoot-out of the AFCON final, which Ghana lost 9-8 to Ivory Coast.

Early life

He was born on 25 July 1990 in Tamale and represented Ghana's under-17 team at the 2005 world championship in Peru. His younger brother, Alhassan Wakaso, is also a professional footballer.

Spain and beyond

After starting at Ashanti Gold, he moved to Spain with Elche in 2008, then to Villarreal, where he made his La Liga debut in February 2011, and to Espanyol in 2012. Rubin Kazan signed him in 2013, and on loan at Celtic in 2014-15 he won the Scottish Premiership and League Cup. He later played for Las Palmas, Panathinaikos, Granada and Alaves, where he spent three seasons from 2017. In January 2020 he moved to China with Jiangsu Suning, then Shenzhen, with a loan at Eupen in Belgium in 2022-23.

Black Stars

He made his senior debut against Malawi on 13 October 2012 and won 70 caps with 13 goals. A combative left-sided midfielder, he played at the 2014 World Cup and at five Africa Cup of Nations tournaments.