Ahmed Apimah Barusso (born 26 December 1984) is a Ghanaian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a

defensive midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for Italian club A.S.D. Terme Monticelli.

Club career

Barusso started off his European footballing career at

Manfredonia Manfredonia is a town and commune of Apulia, Italy, in the province of Foggia, from which it is northeast by rail. Manfredonia is situated on the coast, facing east, to the south of Monte Gargano, and gives its name to the gulf to the east of i ...

, where he moved after recommendations by Ghanaian football legend

Abedi Pele Abedi Ayew ( ; born 5 November 1964), known professionally as Abedi Pele, is a Ghanaian former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder and who served as captain of the Ghana national team. He is regarded as one of the g ...

, from

Nania F.C. Nania F.C. (often known as ''Abedi Pele's Nania Accra F.C.'') is a Ghanaian professional Football team, football club based in Legon, Greater Accra Region, Greater Accra. They are a currently competing in the Ghana Football Leagues#Division One L ...

Accra Accra (; tw, Nkran; dag, Ankara; gaa, Ga or ''Gaga'') is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , ...

. He helped Manfredonia to three successive promotions from the Italian amateur leagues (

Serie D The Serie D () is the top level of semi-professional football in the country. The fourth tier of the Italian league system, the competition sits beneath the third professional league, Serie C. It is administered by the Lega Nazionale Dilettant ...

) to

Serie C1 Lega Pro Prima Divisione was the third highest football (soccer), football league in Italy. It consisted of 33 teams, divided geographically into two divisions of 16 and 17 teams for group A and B respectively. Until 2008 it was known as Serie C1 ...

. At the start of the 2006–07 season Barusso was signed by

Serie B The Serie B (), currently named Serie Balkrishna Industries, BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 ...

club

Rimini Rimini ( , ; rgn, Rémin; la, Ariminum) is a city in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy and capital city of the Province of Rimini. It sprawls along the Adriatic Sea, on the coast between the rivers Marecchia (the ancient ''Ariminu ...

in a co-ownership deal that was later turned permanent after his immediate impact at his new club, including man of the match performances against

Juventus F.C. )''I Bianconeri'' (The White and Blacks)''Le Zebre'' (The Zebras)''La Signora Omicidi'' (The Killer Lady)''La Gheuba'' (: The Hunchback) , founded = as Sport-Club Juventus , ground = Juventus Stadium , capacity = 41,507 , owner = Agnelli ...

and

Bologna F.C. 1909 Bologna Football Club 1909, commonly referred to as Bologna (), is an Italian professional football club based in Bologna, Emilia-Romagna that plays in Serie A, the top flight of Italian football. The club have won seven top-flight titles, two Co ...

. Barusso's success was nearly halted, however, after a fractured

tibia The tibia (; ), also known as the shinbone or shankbone, is the larger, stronger, and anterior (frontal) of the two bones in the leg below the knee in vertebrates (the other being the fibula, behind and to the outside of the tibia); it connects ...

after a tackle by Alfredo Cardinale in the week 9 game at

Crotone Crotone (, ; nap, label= Crotonese, Cutrone or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Calabria, Italy. Founded as the Achaean colony of Kroton ( grc, Κρότων or ; la, Crotona) in Magna Graecia, it was known as Cotrone from the Middle Ages until ...

, forcing him to miss several games due to surgery.

Roma

On 15 June 2007, it was reported in the Italian media that

A.S. Roma ' (''Rome Sport Association''), commonly referred to as Roma (), is a professional football club based in Rome, Italy. Founded by a merger in 1927, Roma has participated in the top tier of Italian football for all of its existence, except for ...

had secured the co-ownership signing of Barusso from

side Rimini. The move was made official on 9 July 2007. It cost €1.7 million to sign him in co-ownership deal. He was awarded no.29 shirt., which was taken by Nicolás Burdisso in 2009–10 season. Barusso made his

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...

debut for

in a 3–0 away win over

Parma Parma (; egl, Pärma, ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmigiano-Reggiano, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,292 ...

on 7 October 2007, at the Stadio Ennio Tardini. Barusso was loaned to Turkish

Galatasaray Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (, ''Galatasaray Sports Club'') is a Turkish sports club based on the European side of the city of Istanbul in Turkey. Most notable for its association football department, the club also consists of various other de ...

in January 2008, following the African Cup of Nations He was subsequently loaned out to Serie A team

Siena Siena ( , ; lat, Sena Iulia) is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena. The city is historically linked to commercial and banking activities, having been a major banking center until the 13th and 14th centuri ...

in June 2008, along with

Gianluca Curci Gianluca Curci (; born 12 July 1985) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper, most recently for Hammarby IF in the Swedish Allsvenskan. Curci has previously played for Roma, Siena, Sampdoria, Bologna, 1. FSV Mainz 05 ...

as part of the deal that Roma signed

Simone Loria Simone Loria (born 28 October 1976) is an Italian former footballer who played as a centre-back. Loria is known for having scored a spectacular bicycle kick from the edge of the penalty area against Chievo while playing for Atalanta. Career Lor ...

and

Artur Artur is a cognate to the common male given name Arthur, meaning "bear-like," which is believed to possibly be descended from the Roman surname Artorius or the Celtic bear-goddess Artio or more probably from the Celtic word ''artos'' ("bear"). O ...

. At Siena, He struggled to find a place in the first team (3 appearances). He was call-up to Roma's pre-season retreat on 2 July 2009. On 24 July 2009, as revealed by his agent Mauro Cavoli, Barusso signed

Brescia Brescia (, locally ; lmo, link=no, label= Lombard, Brèsa ; lat, Brixia; vec, Bressa) is a city and ''comune'' in the region of Lombardy, Northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Garda and Iseo. ...

of Serie B on loan from AS Roma for a season, which made official on 27 July. On 31 January 2010, he was loaned to

Torino Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. T ...

where he met with Roma teammate Loria. Barusso almost won promotion back to Serie A with the club, which lost to Brescia in the final. On 25 June 2010, Roma bought him outright for another €100,000. He spent the other half of the 2010–11 season on loan at

Livorno Livorno () is a port city on the Ligurian Sea on the western coast of Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of 158,493 residents in December 2017. It is traditionally known in English as Leghorn (pronou ...

. On 21 July 2011, it was reported that Barusso may sign with Israeli champions

Maccabi Haifa Maccabi Haifa ( he, מכבי חיפה) is one of the biggest sports clubs in Israel and a part of the Maccabi association. It runs several sports clubs and teams in Haifa which have competed in a variety of sports over the years, such as Football ...

, but the deal never materialized. In August 2011, Barusso had his car attacked, along with teammate Stefano Okaka, by angry Roma fans due to his unwillingness to be traded, which would free up a spot for a non-EU player to be brought in.

Late career

On 23 August 2012, Barusso joined

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...

on a free transfer and next day, was moved out to Serie B side

Novara Calcio Novara Football Club, commonly referred to as Novara, is an Football in Italy, Italian football club based in Novara, Piedmont. The club was founded in 2021 by the Novara, City of Novara to replace old Novara Calcio that lost its professional s ...

in a temporary deal. The signing was solely for granting Genoa a quota of non-EU signing when releasing him on 30 June 2013 as a free agent. On 30 January 2014, he returned to

. He was released on 30 June 2014 without any appearances. The club also received a quota to sign non-EU player

Josef Martínez Josef Alexander Martínez Mencia (born 19 May 1993) is a Venezuelan professional footballer who plays as a striker for Major League Soccer club Atlanta United and the Venezuela national team. Josef Martínez began his career with Caracas. ...

. In February 2015 Barusso was signed by Lega Pro club

Arezzo Arezzo ( , , ) , also ; ett, 𐌀𐌓𐌉𐌕𐌉𐌌, Aritim. is a city and ''comune'' in Italy and the capital of the province of the same name located in Tuscany. Arezzo is about southeast of Florence at an elevation of above sea level. ...

International career

Barusso was part of the Ghanaian Olympic Team, known as the Black Meteors that qualified for the

2004 Summer Olympic Games The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

Honours

Ghana *

African Cup of Nations The Africa Cup of Nations referred to as AFCON (french: Coupe d'Afrique des Nations, sometimes referred to as CAN, or TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons), and sometimes as African Cup of Nations, is the main internati ...

third Place:

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Barusso, Ahmed 1984 births Living people Footballers from Accra Ghanaian footballers Ghanaian expatriate footballers Ghana international footballers 2008 Africa Cup of Nations players Association football midfielders Serie A players Serie B players Süper Lig players F.C. Nania players Manfredonia Calcio players Rimini F.C. 1912 players A.S. Roma players Galatasaray S.K. footballers A.C.N. Siena 1904 players Brescia Calcio players Torino F.C. players U.S. Livorno 1915 players A.S.G. Nocerina players Novara F.C. players S.S. Arezzo players Expatriate footballers in Italy Ghanaian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate footballers in Turkey Ghanaian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey