Gerald Asamoah

Gerald Asamoah (German pronunciation: [ˈgeːʁalt ʔazaˈmoː.aː];[2] born 3 October 1978) is a Ghanaian-born German former footballer who played as a forward.[1][3] He was known for his pace and strength.[4]

Gerald Asamoah
Asamoah in 2016
Personal information
Full name Gerald Asamoah
Date of birth (1978-10-03) 3 October 1978
Place of birth Mampong, Ghana
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[1]
Position(s) Forward
Youth career
1990 VfV Hainholz
1990–1991 SG Borken
1991–1994 BV Werder Hannover
1994–1996 Hannover 96
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1996–1999 Hannover 96 79 (29)
1999–2010 Schalke 04 279 (44)
2010–2011 FC St. Pauli 27 (6)
2012–2013 Greuther Fürth 27 (5)
2013–2015 Schalke 04 II 49 (8)
Total 461 (92)
National team
2001–2006 Germany 43 (6)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Early life

Born in Mampong, Ghana, Asamoah and his family emigrated to Germany in 1990.

Club career

Asamoah started his career with Hannover 96 where he played 79 games before moving to Schalke in 1999.[5] He played over 275 league games for the club over 11 years with the team.[6] On 1 June 2010, Asamoah signed a two-year contract with the then Bundesliga-promoted club St. Pauli.[7][8] In June 2011 he terminated this contract. From 12 July 2011 on, Asamoah was at VfB Hüls, keeping himself fit. After six months without a club, Asamoah signed for SpVgg Greuther Fürth on 10 January 2012.[9] Asamoah won the second division title with SpVgg Greuther Fürth and played in the Bundesliga in the 2012–13 season. On 15 July 2013, it was announced that Asamoah will return to Schalke 04 as a player for Schalke's second team.[3]

International career

Asamoah made his debut for Germany in 2001 against Slovakia, making him the first African-born black player to ever play for the side, as Erwin Kostedde and Jimmy Hartwig, two previous internationals with black ancestry, were both born in Germany to African-American fathers and German mothers. He scored on his debut, and went on to play in the 2002 and 2006 World Cups.[10]

Career statistics

Club
Club performance League Cup Europe1 Other2 Total
SeasonClubLeague AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals
1996–97Hannover 96Regionalliga Nord25510--20285
1997–98331930--213820
1998–992. Bundesliga21410----224
1999–00Schalke 04Bundesliga33421----355
2000–0129464----358
2001–02326605120457
2002–03273316020384
2003–04244004061345
2004–053185171624912
2005–062431010120374
2006–071321220--164
2007–0831733101304711
2008–092722071--363
2009–108100----81
2010–11St. Pauli27600----276
2011–12Greuther Fürth2. Bundesliga10520----125
2012–13Bundesliga17010----180
2013–14Schalke 04001000--10
Schalke 04 total 27944301251521338164
Career total 412833812515254526104

International goals

Personal life

Asamoah is married and has two children, twins Jada and Jaden (born 26 February 2007). He suffers from a heart condition, hypertrophic non-obstructive cardiomyopathy. In his case, the flesh lobe that separates the right and left heart chambers is extremely thick, which can cause an arrhythmic heartbeat.[11][12] Asamoah's brother Lewis last played for 1. FC Wülfrath and his cousin Emmanuel plays for the U-17 of FC St. Pauli.[13] On 13 January 2016, Asamoah accepted the 2015 FIFA Fair Play Award on behalf of football organizations and clubs around the world, working to support refugees in the face of conflict.[14]

Honours

Club

Schalke 04

Greuther Fürth

International

Germany

References
  1. "Asamoah, Gerald" (in German). kicker.de. Retrieved 15 July 2013.
  2. On the recording, the pretonic syllable of the surname (/za/) is pronounced with a voiceless [z̥], which is the normal pronunciation in southern accents. It is still not an [s], as it is weaker.
  3. "Asamoah spielt wieder für Schalke" (in German). kicker.de. 15 July 2013. Retrieved 15 July 2013.
  4. "Player Profile". BBC Sport. Retrieved 12 July 2012.
  5. Arnhold, Matthias (4 June 2015). "Gerald Asamoah - Matches and Goals in Bundesliga". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 16 June 2015.
  6. "FC St. Pauli verpflichtet Gerald Asamoah" (in German). Focus. 1 June 2010. Retrieved 22 June 2010.
  7. "Asamoah wird Kiezkicker: 31-Jähriger erhält Zwei-Jahres-Vertrag" (in German). FC St. Pauli. 31 May 2010. Archived from the original on 6 July 2010. Retrieved 22 June 2010.
  8. "Asamoah geht zu St. Pauli – Rückkehr zum S04 vertraglich fixiert" (in German). FC Schalke 04. 1 June 2010. Archived from the original on 4 June 2010. Retrieved 22 June 2010.
  9. "Fürth verpflichtet Asamoah" [Fürth signs Asamoah] (in German). DFL. 10 January 2012. Archived from the original on 10 January 2012. Retrieved 10 January 2012.
  10. Arnhold, Matthias (4 June 2015). "Gerald Asamoah - International Appearances". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 16 June 2015.
  11. "Gerald Asamoah "I know that I'm playing with my life"". FIFA. 14 January 2002. Retrieved 22 June 2010.
  12. "Gott weiß, was er tut". Der Spiegel (in German). 9 November 1998. Retrieved 16 February 2011.
  13. "1.FC Wülfrath: Lewis und Gerald Asamoah über Neid, Gegenspieler und Zukunft" [1.FC Wülfrath: Lewis and Gerald Asamoah about envy, opponents and future] (in German). reviersport.de. 7 August 2007. Retrieved 7 March 2010.
  14. "FACTSheet FIFA awards" (PDF). FIFA. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 January 2016. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
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