Prince lands among commoners

Asamoah arrived in the city 15 days back and is appalled by the conditions here. With weather playing dirty, he had less time to adjust and yet showed his class, setting up the only goal that his team scored against BMFC. ‘‘Obviously a lot of work needs to be done, especially on the grounds. The level of excellence in players here is also not much. They don’t pass as much as they should,’’ sums up Asamoah.

Asamoah has an impressive CV to boot his credentials (see box). No wonder it comes as a surprise that a foreign player is risking his career to boost a club’s fortunes with not much to gain. ‘‘I always was curious to know about Asia and the footballing culture. Since I got a chance to see it from close quarters, I decided to go for it. Besides, here I have Lawson and Booth for company,’’ says Asamoah. The Ghanian may have taken a bold move just to satiate his urge for the unknown but the Mahindra United is relying on him to complete the relentless quest for the top club status in India.

THE PRINCE-LY STATUS

• Charles played for Kumasi Asante Kotoko, one of the leading clubs in Ghana and was part of the Ghana National u-23 team for three years till 2001. He was sidelined with injury for most of the last season when British coach David Booth was in command of Ghana.

• In 2002, he played for German club Antatriya.

• Last season he figured for the Kaiser Chiefs club in South Africa.

• His elder brother Gerard Asamoah is now a German citizen since 2000. Gerard is only the third black to figure in the German National team.