Bad scenes in the ÖFB Cup: The round of 16 duel between FC Blau-Weiß Linz and TSV Hartberg was canceled on Wednesday in the first half of the game due to a medical emergency! The trigger for this was the collapse of Linz striker Raphael Dwamena off the field …
Explosive: The Ghanaian has been playing with an implanted heart defibrillator for some time because of heart problems. Denmark’s star Christian Eriksen has been wearing such a device since it collapsed during the European Football Championship last summer. What happened after about 15 minutes of play between Blau-Weiß Linz and Hartberg is quickly explained: Dwamena suddenly grabbed her chest and later collapsed screaming near the substitutes’ bench.
“His defibrillator hit and the doctors were able to stabilize him quickly,” reported blue-white manager Stefan Reiter. Dwamena was conscious when she was transported to the hospital, and further tests are currently being carried out. “Raphael’s condition is stable.” According to the manager, the rescue chain “worked extremely well”. “It didn’t take a second for the paramedics to be on the way to him.” Referee Andreas Heiss had initially interrupted the game when the score was 0-0 before it was canceled with the consent of both teams. Reiter expressed gratitude and appreciation to the opponent. Hartberg’s club spokesman said: “It was immediately clear to us that we would not continue playing today.”
Who is this Raphael Dwamena anyway? He served in Austria for the first time in the summer of 2016 and scored a whopping 18 goals in 20 second division games for Austria Lustenau. This hit rate quickly aroused interest from abroad, and the contract was finally won by FC Zurich, which transferred around 600,000 euros to the Ländle – a record amount for the Lustenau team. A year and 25 goals and 18 assists later, Switzerland was supposed to go to England, more precisely to Brighton in the Premier League – but the medical check revealed cardiac arrhythmias, which is why the transfer was canceled.
And even if the UD Levante was still a club that popped in around 6 million euros for Dwamena, the Ghanaian’s career fell out of step and has never regained momentum since then. Now the new beginning should have been successful in Austria at Blau-Weiß Linz …