Kwadwo Asamoah facts for kids
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Asamoah warming up for Juventus in 2014
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| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Kwadwo Asamoah | |||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 9 December 1988 | |||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Kumasi, Ghana | |||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.73 m | |||||||||||||||
| Playing position | Left midfielder, left-back, central midfielder | |||||||||||||||
| Youth career | ||||||||||||||||
| 2005–2006 | Kaaseman | |||||||||||||||
| 2006–2007 | Liberty Professionals | |||||||||||||||
| 2008 | Bellinzona | |||||||||||||||
| 2008 | → Torino | |||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† | |||||||||||||
| 2008–2012 | Udinese | 114 | (8) | |||||||||||||
| 2012–2018 | Juventus | 116 | (4) | |||||||||||||
| 2018–2020 | Inter Milan | 40 | (0) | |||||||||||||
| 2021 | Cagliari | 9 | (0) | |||||||||||||
| Total | 279 | (12) | ||||||||||||||
| National team | ||||||||||||||||
| 2009–2019 | Ghana | 74 | (4) | |||||||||||||
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Honours
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Kwadwo Asamoah (born 9 December 1988) is a former professional football player from Ghana. He mostly played as a left midfielder or left-back. Sometimes, he also played as a central midfielder.
Asamoah started his professional career in 2008 with the Italian club Udinese. He played so well that he moved to Juventus in 2012. At Juventus, he was a very important player. He helped the team win six straight Serie A titles from 2013 to 2018. He also won other trophies. Later in his career, injuries sometimes limited how many games he could play.
After Juventus, he joined Inter Milan in 2018 and Cagliari in 2021. For his country, Asamoah played for the Ghana national team. He took part in four Africa Cup of Nations tournaments and two FIFA World Cups.
Asamoah won the CAF Most Promising African Player award in 2010. He was also named Ghana Player of the Year twice in a row, in 2012 and 2013. In 2013, Bloomberg ranked him as the 27th best footballer in the world.
Contents
Club Career Highlights
Starting Out in Football
Kwadwo Asamoah was born in Accra, Ghana. A scout named Mr. Charles Mensah Gapson discovered him playing for a local club. He was then recommended to the CEO of Liberty Professionals, Alhaji Sly Tetteh.
Asamoah later joined the Swiss club Bellinzona. From there, he was loaned to the Italian team Torino in late 2007.
Time at Udinese
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In June 2008, Asamoah signed with Serie A club Udinese. He quickly became a key player for both his club and his country. After showing great performances at the 2010 World Cup and the Africa Cup of Nations, many top European clubs became interested in him.
Joining Juventus
In July 2012, Asamoah and his Udinese teammate Mauricio Isla both moved to Juventus. Juventus paid €9 million for half of Asamoah's contract. He played his first game for Juventus on 11 August 2012 against Napoli. He even scored a goal in that match, which Juventus won 4–2 after extra time.
Because he played so well, Juventus's coach, Antonio Conte, started him in the first league match of the 2012–13 season. This was on 25 August against Parma. He immediately helped the team by setting up a goal for Stephan Lichtsteiner in a 2–0 home win. On 16 September, he scored his first league goal for Juventus in a 3–1 win over Genoa. Juventus went on to win the Serie A title that season. In June 2013, Juventus bought Asamoah completely and he signed a four-year contract.
On 9 March 2014, Asamoah scored an important goal in a 1–0 home win against Fiorentina. Juventus successfully defended their Serie A title and also won the Supercoppa Italiana that season.
During the 2014–15 season, Asamoah suffered a serious knee injury. This happened on 1 November 2014, during a league match against Empoli. The injury kept him out for most of the season. He was able to return to training towards the end of the season. Juventus won the Serie A title that year. He returned to play on 23 May 2015, in a 3–1 home win against Napoli.
On 23 July 2016, Asamoah was the captain for Juventus in the first game of the 2016 International Champions Cup in Australia. On 25 September 2016, he was sidelined for six weeks with a sprained right knee. Tests showed he had a complete tear of a knee ligament.
In January 2018, it was reported that Asamoah decided not to renew his contract with Juventus. His contract was set to end in June of that year. He played his 150th game for Juventus on 17 March, in a 0–0 draw against S.P.A.L. in Serie A.
Moving to Inter Milan
In July 2018, it was officially confirmed that Asamoah had joined Inter Milan. He played his first game for Inter on 19 August, in a 1–0 away loss to Sassuolo. This was the first match of the 2018–19 Serie A season.
Time at Cagliari and Retirement
On 3 February 2021, Asamoah signed a contract with Cagliari until 30 June 2021. He made his debut for Cagliari on 28 February 2021, in a 2–0 home victory against Crotone. In that match, he became the African player with the most appearances in Italian Serie A history. He played his 271st game, passing his fellow Ghanaian player Sulley Muntari, who had 270 matches.
On 5 October 2022, Kwadwo Asamoah announced that he was retiring from professional football.
International Career
Asamoah made his debut for the Ghana national team, known as the Black Stars, in 2009. He played for Ghana in the Africa Cup of Nations in 2008, 2010, 2012, and 2013. He won a bronze medal in 2008 and a silver medal in 2010.
He also represented Ghana at the FIFA World Cup in 2010 and 2014. In the 2010 tournament, he helped Ghana reach the quarter-finals.
Playing Style
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Kwadwo Asamoah was known as a very active, hardworking, and smart player. He was fast, strong, and had great technical skills. He was good at understanding the game, which made him effective in both attacking and defending. He could play in many different positions in defence or midfield.
He was mainly left-footed. At Juventus, he often played as a full-back, wing-back, or wide-midfielder on the left side. Before joining Juventus, he also played in the middle as a defensive, central, or attacking midfielder. Besides his physical skills, he was very agile. He had good vision and could make runs to create chances for his teammates. He was also a good passer, could shoot powerfully from far away, and was a skilled dribbler. Even with all his talent, Asamoah often had to miss games because of injuries.
Personal Life
Kwadwo Asamoah is married to Abena. They have a son named Jason and a daughter named Jada. In 2020, he gave $20,000 to the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Kumasi. This donation helped support the fight against COVID-19.
Career Statistics Summary
Kwadwo Asamoah played a total of 279 league games in his club career, scoring 12 goals. He also played in 74 international matches for Ghana, scoring 4 goals.
Honours and Awards
Asamoah won many titles and awards during his career:
- Juventus
- Serie A: 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18 (6 times)
- Coppa Italia: 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18 (4 times)
- Supercoppa Italiana: 2012, 2013, 2015 (3 times)
- UEFA Champions League runner-up: 2014–15, 2016–17
- Inter Milan
- UEFA Europa League runner-up: 2019–20
- Ghana
- Africa Cup of Nations runner-up: 2010
- Africa Cup of Nations third place: 2008
- Individual Awards
- CAF Most Promising African Player: 2010
- SWAG Sports Personality of the Year: 2012
- Ghana Player of the Year: 2012
- CAF Team of the Year: 2014
- Serie A Team of the Year: 2013–14
- Africa Cup of Nations Team of the Tournament: 2010, 2012
