Gerald Asamoah

Gerald Asamoah (born October 3, 1978 in Mampong, Ghana) is a Ghanaian-born Germany association football. He plays as a Striker for FC Schalke 04, a team he has been with since 1999.

Football career

Born in Ghana, Asamoah and his family imigrated to Germany in 1990. He first played for Hannover 96 before moving to FC Schalke 04 in 1999.

Asamoah made his debut for Germany national football team in 2001 against Slovakia national football team, making him the first black player to ever play for the side (however, Erwin Kostedde and Jimmy Hartwig, two previous internationals, had one black and one white parent). He scored on his debut, and went on to play in the 2002 FIFA World Cup and 2006 FIFA World Cup.

Personal

- Asamoah is married and has two children, twins Jada and Jaden (born February 26, 2007).
- He suffers from a heart condition, hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy (HOCM). In his case, the flesh lobe that separates the right and left heart chambers is extremely thick, which can cause an arrhythmic heartbeat.

Honours

- FC Schalke 04:
- - DFB-Pokal DFB Cup 2000-01, DFB Cup 2001-02
- - DFB-Ligapokal 2005
- - UEFA Intertoto Cup UEFA Intertoto Cup 2003, UEFA Intertoto Cup 2004

- Germany national football team:
- - 2002 FIFA World Cup Runner-up
- - 2005 Confederations Cup Bronze medallist
- - 2006 FIFA World Cup Bronze medallist