Christian Atsu

Christian Atsu Twasam was a Ghanaian footballer who played mainly as a winger for Porto, Chelsea, Everton and Newcastle United, and won 65 caps for Ghana. He was named Player of the Tournament at the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations. He died in the Turkey-Syria earthquake on 6 February 2023, aged 31.

Early life

He was born on 10 January 1992 in Ada Foah, one of ten children, including a twin sister, of a fisherman and farmer on the Volta River, and grew up in deep poverty. He trained at the Feyenoord Football Academy at Gomoa Fetteh and the West African Football Academy at Sogakope, then played for Abdul Hayye Yartey's Cheetah FC in Kasoa.

Club career

He joined Porto at 17, spent 2011 to 2012 on loan at Rio Ave, where he scored against Benfica at the Estádio da Luz, and was part of Porto's title-winning squad in 2012 to 2013. In September 2013 Chelsea signed him for about £3.5 million and loaned him to Vitesse, Everton, Bournemouth and Málaga. He joined Newcastle United on loan in 2016, helped them win promotion back to the Premier League, and signed permanently in May 2017 for £6.2 million, staying four years. After a spell at Al-Raed in Saudi Arabia from July 2021, he joined Hatayspor in Turkey in 2022.

International career

He played 65 times for Ghana between 2012 and 2019, at the 2014 World Cup and four Africa Cups of Nations. At the 2015 tournament, where Ghana lost the final to Côte d'Ivoire on penalties, he won both Player of the Tournament and Goal of the Tournament.

Charity

He was an ambassador for Arms Around the Child, which supports disadvantaged children, and paid bail for Ghanaians jailed for stealing food.

Death

He had been due to leave southern Turkey but stayed after scoring the winner for Hatayspor on 5 February 2023. Hours later, the earthquake brought down the building where he lived in Antakya. His body was recovered on 18 February. It was flown home, and after a state-assisted funeral at the State House forecourt in Accra on 17 March 2023 he was buried in his hometown, Dogobome, in Ada Foah. He was survived by his wife, the author Marie-Claire Rupio, and their three children.