Anderson Asiedu (born 12 June 1996) is a Ghanaian

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

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

Hartford Athletic Hartford Athletic is an American professional soccer team based in Hartford, Connecticut. The club was founded in 2018 and started play in the USL Championship in 2019. It is the only pro soccer team in Connecticut. History On June 8, 2021, Ha ...

in the

USL Championship The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, pl ...

Early life

Asiedu was born in

Dormaa Ahenkro Dormaa Ahenkro is a city and also the capital of Dormaa Traditional Area Dormaa Municipal of the Bono Region, in Ghana.Dormaa District
< ...

, Ghana. Following his mother's death and a short stint living with his grandmother, he lived in an orphanage. At 16, he was discovered by Sylvers Owusu, a native Ghanaian who was in the country looking for players for the soccer team he coached at a high school in

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

. Shortly thereafter, he enrolled at St. Benedict's Prep in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.USSDA The U.S. Soccer Development Academy (DA) was an American soccer league. Formed in 2007, the league features youth academies and youth clubs from various organizations, including Major League Soccer and the United Soccer League. The DA's missio ...

U17/18 national championship with Players Development Academy.

College career

Asiedu started his college career at

Monmouth Monmouth ( , ; cy, Trefynwy meaning "town on the Monnow") is a town and community in Wales. It is situated where the River Monnow joins the River Wye, from the Wales–England border. Monmouth is northeast of Cardiff, and west of London. I ...

, where he started 37 games for the Hawks in two seasons, scoring two goals and adding five assists. As a freshman, he was named to the All-Northeast Region and All-MAAC first teams, as well as the All-MAAC rookie team. As a sophomore, he was named to the All-MAAC second team. Following his sophomore year, he transferred to

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

to play for the Bruins. He started 34 games over two seasons, scoring three goals and adding four assists. He was named to the All-Pac-12 second team in both seasons and was named to the Pac-12 All-Academic team as a senior.

Professional career

Following a successful college career, Asiedu was drafted with the last pick of the first round of the

2019 MLS SuperDraft The 2019 MLS SuperDraft was the twentieth SuperDraft conducted by Major League Soccer. The SuperDraft is typically held in conjunction with the annual January United Soccer Coaches convention, which in 2019 was held in Chicago, Illinois. The fi ...

by defending

MLS Cup The MLS Cup is the annual championship game of Major League Soccer (MLS) and the culmination of the MLS Cup Playoffs. The game is held in November and pits the winner of the Eastern Conference Final against the winner of the Western Conference ...

champions

Atlanta United Atlanta United FC, commonly known as Atlanta United, is an American professional soccer club based in Atlanta that competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference. Founded in 2014, Atlanta United began pl ...

. On 1 March 2019 he signed with the club ahead of the

2019 Major League Soccer season The 2019 Major League Soccer season was the 24th season of Major League Soccer. The regular season began on March 2, 2019 and ended on October 6. The MLS Cup Playoffs began on October 19 and concluded with MLS Cup 2019 on November 10, under a n ...

, and began the season on loan with the club's reserve team,

Atlanta United 2 Atlanta United 2 are the reserve team of the Major League Soccer club Atlanta United FC. The team plays in the USL Championship, the second tier of American soccer. The team was established on November 14, 2017 and began their first professiona ...

. After making 10 appearances for Atlanta United 2, Asiedu was waived by the club on 31 May. On 15 July 2019, Asiedu signed with

side

Birmingham Legion Birmingham Legion FC is an American professional soccer club based in Birmingham, Alabama, that competes in the USL Championship, the second division of American soccer. The team was established in August 2013 and played under the name Birmingh ...

. He left Birmingham following their 2023 season after five seasons with the club. Asiedu joined

on 14 December 2023.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Asiedu, Anderson 1996 births Living people People from Bono Region Ghanaian men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Monmouth Hawks men's soccer players UCLA Bruins men's soccer players New York Red Bulls U-23 players FC Golden State Force players Atlanta United FC draft picks Atlanta United FC players Atlanta United 2 players Birmingham Legion FC players USL League Two players USL Championship players Ghanaian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Ghanaian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Hartford Athletic players