Haminu Draman


Haminu Draman is a Ghanaian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder.

Club career

Having started his career in Ghana with Heart of Lions F.C., Draman joined Serbian club Red Star Belgrade for the 2005–06. Having won the championship and the cup with Red Star moved to Turkey, where he made 31 league appearances for Gençlerbirliği S.K. as they finished sixth in the Turkish Süper Lig.
Draman signed a three-year contract with Russian Cup winners Lokomotiv Moscow on 19 June 2007. Draman joined Lokomotiv when the Russian transfer window opened on 1 August 2007. He was expected to replace Russian international Marat Izmailov, who is on loan to Portuguese club Sporting Lisbon for a year.
Following the transfer of Draman Gençlerbirliği's coach Ersun Yanal quit after just over a week in charge because he disagreed with the club's decision. Yanal, who had previously been coach of Gençlerbirliği before leaving to become the Turkish national team coach, had signed a three-year contract with the club on 1 June 2007. "The chairman's promises seem to have changed from the way they were before the agreement we made" Yanal said. "We would like to be a strong team but we sold Draman. The club want to try some players on trial in the meantime but this is not the way that I work. Gençlerbirliği chairman Cavcav, who had been in charge of the club for 30 years, responded by saying: "We met with the coach before and then I told him that I have to sell Draman to Locomotiv Moskva because all of the negotiations were over and I promised to sell him.
It was reported that English Premiership side Stoke City were interested in signing Draman because of his speed and skills in the January 2008 transfer window, and that a fee of €3 million had been agreed.
On 18 February 2009, Draman signed for FC Kuban Krasnodar on loan from Lokomotiv Moscow.
On 11 July 2011, Draman signed a one-year contract with French Ligue 2 side AC Arles-Avignon.
In July 2013, Draman signed a two-year contract for Portuguese club Gil Vicente F.C. on a free transfer. This was after he had left Arles Avignon due to unpaid salary.
Draman left Gil Vicente during the winter-break, and by early 2014, he was back in Ghana, after almost a decade, by signing with Asante Kotoko S.C. His return turned out to be a great success as he won the double, the 2013–14 Ghanaian Premier League and the 2014 Ghanaian FA Cup during his half-year spell with Asante Kotoko back in Ghana.
He signed for FC Infonet in January 2016. With 3 goals in 23 appearances he helped them win their first ever national title, the 2016 Meistriliiga.

International career

Draman was 19 when he made his international debut for Ghana in a friendly against Saudi Arabia in Riyadh on 14 November 2005. He is a member of the national team, and was called up to the 2006 World Cup. He scored his first goal of the tournament against the U.S. on 22 June 2006.
He took a starring role in Ghana's International friendly against former World Champions Brazil on 27 March 2007 where the Ghanaians lost 1–0, terrorising the Samba Boys right back Ilsinho, before being dismissed late in the game for a second bookable offence on Ilsinho's replacement Daniel Alves.

Note on name

There was some confusion during the 2006 FIFA World Cup as Draman's surname was misspelled DRAMANI on the back of his shirt and, as a result, on FIFA documents. The Ghanaian FA confirm his name is Draman. He has also confirmed this himself in an interview to Sport Express, a Russian newspaper.

Career statistics

International

International goals

GoalDateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetitionRef
122 June 2006Frankenstadion, Nuremberg, Germany
1–0
2–1
2006 FIFA World Cup Group E
24 October 2006Nissan Stadium, Yokohama, Japan
1–0
1–0
Friendly
39 February 2008Baba Yara Stadium, Kumasi, Ghana
4–2
4–2
Friendly
312 August 2009Brisbane Road, London, England
4–1
4–1
Friendly

Honours

Club

Red Star Belgrade
Lokomotiv Moscow
Asante Kotoko
Infonet
Ghana