16 Facts About Gerald Asamoah

Gerald Asamoah has bonded the most part of his career to Schalke, where he has been widely appreciated not only for his accomplishments as a player, but for his relaxed and positive attitude and his role as a community leader off the pitch.

Gerald Asamoah kept working in Gelsenkirchen after his retirement, too, as he was offered several administrative and managerial roles throughout the years.

Gerald Asamoah immediately started playing football in several local teams, and entered the youth academy of Hannover 96 at the age of 16.

Gerald Asamoah first came to prominence the following year, as he scored 19 goals in 33 games to help Hannover reach the play-off for the promotion in 2.

On 1 June 2010, Gerald Asamoah signed a two-year contract with the then Bundesliga-promoted club FC St Pauli.

However, the following year turned out to be more difficult than expected: Gerald Asamoah went goalless during the entire season, while the Kleeblatter finished at the bottom of the table, having won only four of their 34 league games, none of which were at home soil.

In May 2001, Gerald Asamoah received his first senior call-up for the Germany national team by coach Rudi Voller and subsequently won his first international cap during a friendly match against Slovakia, making him the first African-born black player to ever play for the side: in fact, Erwin Kostedde and Jimmy Hartwig, two previous internationals with black ancestry, were both born in Germany to African-American fathers and German mothers.

Gerald Asamoah scored on his debut, at the 50th minute of the game.

Gerald Asamoah then went on to play in the 2002 and 2006 World Cups, mainly as a reserve, and ended up collecting a total amount of 43 international caps and six goals for the Germany national team.

In February 2021, following internal turbulence within the club due to the extreme lack of results throughout the season, Gerald Asamoah was appointed as a coordinator for the first team, acting as a link between the players, the coaching team and the board.

Gerald Asamoah is married and has two children, twins born on 26 February 2007.

Gerald Asamoah's brother Lewis was born on 1984 and has played as a footballer, too, spending his whole career in the non-professional tiers of the German football league pyramid, while his cousin Emmanuel was born on 1993 and played in the youth ranks of St Pauli and Hamburg before seemingly stepping out of football in 2013.

Gerald Asamoah suffers from a heart condition, named non-obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

On 13 January 2016, Gerald Asamoah accepted the 2015 FIFA Fair Play Award on behalf of football organizations and clubs around the world, as he worked to support refugees in the face of conflict.

Gerald Asamoah has been leading educational campaigns in public schools and speaking out against racism in several occasions.

In February 2020, Gerald Asamoah firmly condemned the racist insults directed towards opponent defender Jordan Torunarigha by Schalke supporters during a home cup match against Hertha BSC.