STVV Meets Culture: Samuel Asamoah

MIDFIELDER 12 Samuel Asamoah

It is no coincidence that Samuel Asamoah is called Samuel. It is the name of a biblical prophet and indicates the Christian roots of our midfielder. His native Ghana is 68% Christian and 15% Islamic. Samuel brought that parental tradition back to Belgium where he goes to church every week. Ghana is a large country, eight times larger than Belgium, with almost 30 million inhabitants. He was born in the capital Accra, a major city with two million inhabitants. Ghana gained independence from colonizer Great Britain in 1957.

The football bug

Samuel had the football bug at a young age. When he was 13 he left for Senegal, to the Aspire Academy. Away from mom and dad and his three brothers and four sisters. “Of course I was homesick. It was a hard school with secondary education and two training sessions a day. But it pays off. I knew I could become a professional player. ”

Samuel will then play in Qatar for a year and a half. He can go home twice a year. Then he leaves for Europe. The Aspire Academy places him in Eupen. He stays there for two years and then goes to OHL Leuven before he ends up at STVV. The shy Asamoah billows in Sint-Truiden. He likes to live there, meet nice people and lives there with his wife.

Black Lives Matter

We ask him if he sympathizes with the protest movement ‘Black Lives Matter’. Protest that has blown over from the USA, against brutal police actions and brutality against black citizens. Against colonialism and slavery.

In Belgium, people protest against King Leopold II and against the merciless colonialism in Congo. “I certainly follow that, which affects me and all African players of STVV. Yes, we talk a lot about that. ” Ghana has a history of executed slaves. There are dozens of slave fortresses in the southern region where the indigenous people were bestially imprisoned before being deported across the ocean. Dutch, British and Portuguese were responsible for the disgraceful trade.

“Indeed an immense disgrace that continues to proliferate in the collective memory of our country. Ghana has been freed from that agony, but we have of course not forgotten that. ”

For Ghana

On the field we see a technically strong midfielder who made a world goal in the home match against his former club Eupen: a cannon ball from thirty meters. Samuel (26 years old) still has a growth margin. “I would like to play a bit more offensive. I want to get even better for STVV. And I still have ambition for the national team of Ghana. Yes, I really believe in that. Playing for your homeland is the best thing there is. ”