Africa Is a Country

Kwadwo Asamoah makes it 150 appearances in Serie A

Africa Is a Country Podcast
African Five-a-Side Podcast

Kwadwo Asamoah makes it 150 appearances in Serie A

By
Sean Jacobs

Last Saturday Kwadwo “Kojo” Asamoah played his 150th Serie A match (vs Parma). Currently with Juventus (since June 2012), the Ghanaian midfielder started his Serie A career at Udinese (2008-2012, 114 matches, 8 goals), before he moved to Juventus. He first came to Italy as a youth team player at Torino earlier in 2008, after a short stay at a Swiss club and before that an even briefer career in Ghana.

In his short time with Juventus, Asamoah has already won a Serie A medal (2012/2013) and the Super Cup. Though he forged his reputation as a high-energy central midfielder, Juventus manager Antonio Conte has used Asamoah as a wing-back in his unusual retro formation, which involves two strikers, three centre-halves and a pair of marauding wing-backs, of which Asamoah is one. This has made him a key figure in debates about tactics and tactical innovation in a period where all but a very few top level managers are firmly set into a 4-2-3-1 orthodoxy in the mode of Mourinho or Wenger.

Asamoah is not shy about publicly sharing his good fortune. He is a relentless tweeter, sharing pics of teammates including one of his son with Giorgio Ciellini (“Beauty and the Beast“), meeting the king of the Asante or — that staple of West African footballers — professing his love of Jesus (serial hashtag: #BecauseofHim).

But back to his Serie A exploits: Asamoah is clearly a favorite at the club (he takes center-stage in the club’s promotions, remarkable given how racist Italy and Serie A is). And the fans love him. One fan-made video is simply titled “Too Fast, Too Strong” (set to a Linkin Park remix yes):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ooo7Dma0Dgo

It is now a thing with football blogs to reduce the game to video highlights of goals, something we’re trying to break with. Yet the goals he has scored in Italy are spectacular. In total, he’s scored 10 goals in Serie A. Here’s some of them as well as that debut goal for Juventus in the Super Cup in the summer.

(1) Overhead goal for Juventus vs Pescara in November 2012:

(2) One year into his Udinese career, he scored this goal vs Cagliari:

(3) Or this goal for Udinese vs Fiorentina in April 2009:

(4) Finally, though not a Serie A goal, I had to include this mid-August 2013 Super Cup goal for Juventus vs Napoli — on his debut for the club:

* Asamoah, who has had 57 national caps since 2006, can also make history with Ghana this summer in Brazil as the first African team to make it beyond the quarterfinals of the World Cup–they still have a second play-off match against Egypt coming up (he almost scored in the first leg which the Blacks Stars won 6-1).

Further Reading

Kenya’s vibe shift

From aesthetic cool to political confusion, a new generation in Kenya is navigating broken promises, borrowed styles, and the blurred lines between irony and ideology.

Africa and the AI race

At summits and in speeches, African leaders promise to harness AI for development. But without investment in power, connectivity, and people, the continent risks replaying old failures in new code.

After the uprising

Years into Cameroon’s Anglophone conflict, the rebellion faces internal fractures, waning support, and military pressure—raising the question of what future, if any, lies ahead for Ambazonian aspirations.

In search of Saadia

Who was Saadia, and why has she been forgotten? A search for one woman’s story opens up bigger questions about race, migration, belonging, and the gaps history leaves behind.

Binti, revisited

More than two decades after its release, Lady Jaydee’s debut album still resonates—offering a window into Tanzanian pop, gender politics, and the sound of a generation coming into its own.

The bones beneath our feet

A powerful new documentary follows Evelyn Wanjugu Kimathi’s personal and political journey to recover her father’s remains—and to reckon with Kenya’s unfinished struggle for land, justice, and historical memory.

What comes after liberation?

In this wide-ranging conversation, the freedom fighter and former Constitutional Court justice Albie Sachs reflects on law, liberation, and the unfinished work of building a just South Africa.

The cost of care

In Africa’s migration economy, women’s labor fuels households abroad while their own needs are sidelined at home. What does freedom look like when care itself becomes a form of exile?

The memory keepers

A new documentary follows two women’s mission to decolonize Nairobi’s libraries, revealing how good intentions collide with bureaucracy, donor politics, and the ghosts of colonialism.

Making films against amnesia

The director of the Oscar-nominated film ‘Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat’ reflects on imperial violence, corporate warfare, and how cinema can disrupt the official record—and help us remember differently.