The late Christian Atsu was among the players who, according to former Black Stars coach James Kwasi Appiah, always made him proud.
When Ghana faced Lesotho in 2012, Kwasi Appiah gave Christian Atsu his Black Stars debut at the age of 20.
Atsu scored during Ghana’s 7-0 victory over the opposition at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium.
Disgusted Kwesi Appiah praised Atsu for keeping his word after the player passed away.
“It’s really, really sad that Atsu is no more. May his soul rest in peace, and my condolences go to the family as well as all of us Ghanaians. When he heard that there had been an earthquake in Turkey, we were all praying that he would be found, but God knows best. When you give him a role on the field, he will do his best to make you, the coach, proud… I used to tell my players to go onto the field and show that they deserved to be on the team. Atsu is one of the players who did not appear in front of me. On the pitch, he was humble and always laughing. The old and new players used to play with him every time. Apart from that, in his social life, we all knew how he helped the less privileged. “That is all I can say about Atsu,” he told Oman FM.
A high-magnitude earthquake struck in Hatay, Turkey on February 6, 2023, which led to Atsu being trapped in his destroyed apartment for over a week.
His body was discovered lifeless on February 18 and was added to the death toll of over 40,000 after the earthquake.
The deceased winger, who made 60 appearances for Ghana, scored 10 goals in his 11-year international career.
His last appearance came in 2019 when he played in the 2019 African Cup of Nations.
Christian Atsu is the only Ghanaian to win the best player and best goal awards at the AFCON, a feat he achieved in 2015.