Kwadwo Asamoah (, ; born 9 December 1988) is a Ghanaian former 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 ...

. Mainly a

left 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 ...

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

, he was also occasionally deployed as a

central 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 ...

. Asamoah began his professional career with Italian club

Udinese Udinese Calcio, commonly referred to as Udinese, is a professional Italian football club based in Udine, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, that currently plays in Serie A. It was founded on 30 November 1896 as a sports club, and on 5 July 1911 as a fo ...

in 2008; his consistent performances earned him a transfer to

Juventus Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional Association football, football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football leagu ...

in 2012, where, with his energy, versatility, and technical skills, he played a key role in helping the club to six consecutive Serie A titles between 2013 and 2018, among other titles, although his appearances at the club were limited by injuries during his later seasons. He joined

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Football in Italy, Italian professional Association football, football ...

in 2018, and

Cagliari Cagliari (, also , , ; sc, Casteddu ; lat, Caralis) is an Italian municipality and the capital of the island of Sardinia, an autonomous region of Italy. Cagliari's Sardinian name ''Casteddu'' means ''castle''. It has about 155,000 inhabitant ...

in 2021. At international level, Asamoah represented

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

in four

Africa 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 ...

tournaments, and two

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

s. Asamoah was awarded CAF Most Promising African Player in 2010 and named

Ghana Player of the Year The Ghana Player of the Year (or ''Ghanaian Footballer of the Year'') is an annual award from Football Association of Ghana, govern in recognition of excellence to the best Ghanaian professional association footballer of the year. The title has ...

twice consecutively for 2012 and 2013. In 2013, Asamoah was ranked as the 27th best footballer in the world by

Bloomberg Bloomberg may refer to: People * Daniel J. Bloomberg (1905–1984), audio engineer * Georgina Bloomberg (born 1983), professional equestrian * Michael Bloomberg (born 1942), American businessman and founder of Bloomberg L.P.; politician and ma ...

Club career

Early career

Asamoah was born in

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, , ...

, Ghana. He was scouted playing for a local based club, which belongs to Kamara and was recommended by the scout Mr. Charles Mensah Gapson to the late

Alhaji Sly Tetteh Alhaji Ibrahim Sly Tetteh (died 3 September 2011) was a Ghanaian football player and administrator who was the President of Liberty Professionals. Playing career Tetteh won the West African Club Championship with Sekondi Hasaacas in 1982. Coac ...

, former CEO of Liberty Professionals. He joined Swiss club

Bellinzona Bellinzona ( , , Ticinese ; french: Bellinzone ; german: Bellenz ; rm, Blizuna )is a municipality, a historic Swiss town, and the capital of the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. The town is famous for its three castles (Castelgrande, Montebell ...

and was loaned to Italian side

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 ...

in the winter of 2007–08.

Udinese

In June 2008, Asamoah was signed by

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 ...

club

where he established himself and became a linch pin for both club and country. After some good performances at the

2010 World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

and

, he became a target of top clubs in Europe.

Juventus

Asamoah and Udinese teammate

Mauricio Isla Mauricio Aníbal Isla Isla (; born 12 June 1988) is a Chilean professional footballer who plays as a right-back and midfielder for Chilean Primera División club Universidad Católica and the Chile national team. Isla started his career i ...

both joined

in July 2012 on co-ownership agreements, with Juventus paying €9 million for 50% of Asamoah's contract. He made his debut on 11 August 2012 against

Napoli Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

in the

2012 Supercoppa Italiana The 2012 TIM Supercoppa Italiana Final was the 25th edition of the Supercoppa, an annual football match contested by the winners of the previous season's Serie A and Coppa Italia competitions. It was the third instance in four years that the match ...

, scoring a goal as Juventus went on to win 4–2 after extra time. Due to his impressive performance against Napoli,

Antonio Conte Antonio Conte (; born 31 July 1969) is an Italian professional football manager and former player who is the head coach of Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur. Playing as a midfielder, Conte began his career at local club Lecce and later b ...

, who was Juventus's coach at the time, decided to start him in the opening league match of the 2012–13 season, against

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 25 August: he made an immediate impact, by setting up

Stephan Lichtsteiner Stephan Lichtsteiner (; born 16 January 1984) is a Swiss former professional footballer. An attacking right-back or wing-back, he was known for his energetic runs down the right wing, as well as his stamina and athleticism, which earned him the ...

's goal in a 2–0 home win. On 16 September, he scored his first goal with his new club in a 3–1 away league win over

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 ...

. Juventus went on to win the Serie A title that season. Asamoah was bought outright by Juventus in June 2013, signing a four-year deal with the club. On 9 March 2014, Asamoah scored a notable goal in a 1–0 home victory over

Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional football club based in Florence, Tuscany, Italy. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while the actual club was refounded in August 2002 fo ...

, as Juventus went on to defend the Serie A title and the

Supercoppa Italiana The Supercoppa Italiana ( en, Italian Super Cup) is an annual football match contested by the winners of the Serie A and the Coppa Italia in the previous season. If the same team wins both the Serie A and Coppa Italia titles in the previous seaso ...

that season. During the 2014–15 season, Asamoah suffered a severe knee injury in the 10th league match of the season, on 1 November 2014, against

Empoli Empoli () is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Florence, Tuscany, Italy, about southwest of Florence, to the south of the Arno in a plain formed by the river. The plain has been usable for agriculture since Roman times. The comm ...

, ruling him out for most of the season. He was only first able to return to the team and resume training towards the end of the season, as Juventus won the

title; he was therefore not able to appear in Juventus's

Coppa Italia The ("Italy Cup") is an annual knockout cup competition in Italian football organized by the FIGC until the 2009–10 season and the Lega Serie A ever since. History The beginning of the tournament was turbulent, due to the complexity of ...

victory over

Lazio it, Laziale , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

. He returned to the pitch on 23 May 2015, in a 3–1 home win over Napoli. On 23 July 2016, Asamoah started for Juventus as captain on pitch in the opening game of

2016 International Champions Cup The 2016 International Champions Cup (or ICC) was a series of friendly association football tournaments that began on 22 July and ended on 13 August 2016. In December 2015, Juventus, Tottenham Hotspur and Melbourne Victory were confirmed to pl ...

Australian version, as the club were drawn 1–1 with

Melbourne Victory Melbourne Victory Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Melbourne, Victoria. Competing in the country's premier men's competition, the A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL), Victory e ...

(Melbourne Victory won 4–3 on penalties), at Melbourne's

Melbourne Cricket Ground The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), also known locally as "The 'G", is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, Victoria. Founded and managed by the Melbourne Cricket Club, it is the largest stadiu ...

. On 25 September 2016, it was confirmed that Asamoah would be sidelined for six weeks after limping off the pitch a day before away to

Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan ...

with a sprained right knee; tests at the J-Medical centre revealed he suffered the complete tear of the medial meniscus ligament. In January 2018, it was reported that Asamoah chose not to renew his contract with Juventus, which was set to expire in June later that year. He made his 150th appearance for Juventus in a 0–0 away draw against

S.P.A.L. Società Polisportiva Ars et Labor, commonly known as S.P.A.L. (), is a professional football club based in Ferrara, Emilia-Romagna, Italy. The team plays in Serie B, the second tier of the Italian football league system. Founded in 1907, since ...

in Serie A, on 17 March.

Inter Milan

In July 2018, Lega Serie A's registration confirmed that Asamoah had agreed to become an Inter player in May 2018; the signing was confirmed officially on 2 July. He made his Inter debut on 19 August, in a 1–0 away defeat to

Sassuolo Sassuolo (; egl, label=Modenese dialect, Modenese, Sasól ) is an Italian town, ''comune'', and industrial centre of the Province of Modena in Emilia-Romagna. Standing on the right bank of the river Secchia some southwest of Modena, the town ...

, the first match of the

2018–19 Serie A The 2018–19 Serie A (known as the Serie A TIM for sponsorship reasons) was the 117th season of top-tier Italian football, the 87th in a round-robin tournament, and the 9th since its organization under a league committee separate from Serie B ...

season.

Cagliari

On 3 February 2021, Asamoah signed a contract with

until 30 June 2021. He made his debut in Sardinia on 28 February 2021, in the 2–0 victory in home against

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 ...

. He became the most-capped African player in the Italian Serie A history, after making his 271st appearance in that match, surpassing his fellow Ghanaian compatriot

Sulley Muntari Suleyman Ali "Sulley" Muntari (born 27 August 1984) is a Ghanaian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He spent most of his career in Italy, playing for clubs such as Udinese, Internazionale, and Milan. During his time wit ...

who he was tied on 270 matches before the game. On 5 October 2022, free agent Asamoah officially announced his retirement from professional football.

International career

On the international level, Asamoah was given his debut for the Ghana national team, Black Stars, in 2008, under French manager

Claude Le Roy Claude Le Roy (born 6 February 1948) is a French football manager and former player, who gained prominence at international level as coach to the Senegal and Ghana national teams. He was most recently the manager of the Togo national team. Ma ...

. He represented Ghana in the

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; ...

and

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

editions of the

, winning a bronze and a silver medal in the respective tournaments, and later also appeared in the

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

and

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

editions. He also played for Ghana at the

and

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

, helping them reach the quarter-finals of the former tournament. On 5 October 2022, Kwadwo announced his retirement from professional football.

Style of play

A dynamic, hardworking, energetic, versatile and tactically intelligent player, Asamoah was primarily known for his pace, strength, stamina, and his outstanding technical characteristics, as well as his ability to read the game; although he primarily served as a ball-winner, these attributes allowed him to be effective both offensively and defensively, and enabled him to play in several positions along the pitch in

defence Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense industr ...

midfield Midfield is the part of a sports field that lies approximately in the center. In American football, association football (soccer) and field hockey, it is the area in and around the center circle, as well as the players who occupy that region. In ...

. A predominantly left-footed player, with Juventus, Asamoah was usually deployed as a full back, wing-back, or wide-midfielder on the left flank, although he had previously also been used in the centre as a

defensive Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense indust ...

central Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

box-to-box 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 ...

, or offensive midfielder prior to joining the club, and even in the "

mezzala 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 ...

" role. In addition to his physical and athletic attributes, he was a very agile footballer, with good vision and an ability to make attacking runs and get into good offensive positions from which he could create chances for teammates with throughballs or deliveries into the area from the wing; he was also a neat passer, a powerful striker of the ball from distance, and a skilful dribbler. Despite his ability, Asamoah was often sidelined through injury.

Personal life

Asamoah is married to Abena, who holds an

Executive MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...

from the University of Ghana. They have a son named Jason and a daughter named Jada. In 2020, he presented a cheque for $20,000 to the

Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital The Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital also known as GEE for it heavy equipments (KATH) in Kumasi, Ashanti Region, Ghana, is the second-largest hospital in Ghana, and the only tertiary health institution in the Ashanti Region. History It was the mai ...

Kumasi Kumasi (historically spelled Comassie or Coomassie, usually spelled Kumase in Twi) is a city in the Ashanti Region, and is among the largest metropolitan areas in Ghana. Kumasi is located in a rain forest region near Lake Bosomtwe, and is the ...

to support the fight against

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

Career statistics

Club

¹Includes

²Includes UEFA Cup/Europa League and

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

³Includes

International

International goals

:''Scores and results list Ghana's goal tally first.''

Honours

Juventus *

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18 *

: 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18 *

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

runner-up: 2014–15, 2016–17 Inter Milan *

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

runner-up: 2019–20 Ghana *

runner-up:

; third place:

Individual * CAF Most Promising African Player: 2010 * SWAG Sports Personality of the Year: 2012 *

: 2012 *

CAF Team of the Year The CAF Team of the Year is an annual football award given by the Confederation of African Football during the CAF Awards. In 2007, the CAF did not choose the team of the year, but rather the best ten players of the last fifty years. The ten playe ...

: 2014 *

Serie A Team of the Year The AIC Serie A Team of the Year (in Italian: ''Squadra dell’anno AIC'') is an annual award given to a set of eleven footballers in the top tier of Italian football, the Serie A, who are considered to have performed the best during the previous c ...

: 2013–14 *

Team of the Tournament:

References

External links

*
Profile
on

website
Profile
on Lega Serie A Calcio website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Asamoah, Kwadwo 1988 births Living people Footballers from Accra Footballers from Kumasi Ghanaian footballers Association football midfielders Association football fullbacks Liberty Professionals F.C. players AC Bellinzona players Torino F.C. players Udinese Calcio players Juventus F.C. players Inter Milan players Cagliari Calcio players Serie A players Ghana international footballers 2008 Africa Cup of Nations players 2010 Africa Cup of Nations players 2010 FIFA World Cup players 2012 Africa Cup of Nations players 2013 Africa Cup of Nations players 2014 FIFA World Cup players 2019 Africa Cup of Nations players Ghanaian expatriate footballers Ghanaian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Ghanaian expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Expatriate footballers in Italy Expatriate footballers in Switzerland