Christian Atsu Height, Age, Death, Wife, Family, Biography & More

Bio/Wiki
Full Name	Christian Atsu Twasam [1]BBC News
Nickname(s)	Africa's Messi
Profession	Footballer
Physical Stats & More
Height (approx.)	in centimeters- 170 cm in meters- 1.70 m in Feet Inches- 5'7"
Weight (approx.)	in kilograms- 65 kg in pounds- 143 lbs
Body Measurements (approx.)	- Chest: 40 Inches - Waist: 32 Inches - Biceps: 13 Inches
Eye Colour	Black
Hair Colour	Black
Football
Professional Debut	• Ghana National team- 1 June 2012 against Lesotho • Rio Ave F.C.- 28 August 2011 • Vitesse Arnhem- 6 October 2013 • Everton- 23 August 2014 • Bournemouth- 25 August 2015 • Malaga- 5 February 2016 • Newcastle United- 13 September 2016
Jersey Number	• Ghana's national team- 7 • FC Porto- 51 • Rio Ave F.C.- 20 • Vitesse Arnhem- 19 • AFC Bournemouth- 20 • Malaga CF- 11 • Newcastle United- 30 • Al-Raed- 3 • Hataspyor- 30
Position	Left Winger/Midfielder/Leftback
Coach/Mentor	• Volkan Demirel (Hataspyor) • Kwesi Appiah (Ghana's coach) • Avram Grant (Ghana's coach) • Rafael Benitez (Newcastle United)
Career Turning Point	Move to FC Porto
Clubs	Clubs • FC Porto • Rio Ave • Chelsea • Vitesse Arnhem • Everton • AFC Bournemouth • Malaga CF • Newcastle United • Al-Raed • Hatayspor National Team • Ghana
Awards, Honours, Achievements	• Best Player of the FIFA Youth Championship in 2011 • FC Porto's Youth Player of the 2010-11 season • Rio Ave's Player of the 2012-13 season • Vitesse Arnhem's Player of the 2013-14 season • Player of the Tournament award of the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations and Goal of the Tournament award for his goal in the Quarterfinal of the tournament • Named in the Team of the Tournament of 2015 and 2017 Africa Cup of Nations • Cyrille Regis Players Award in 2018
Personal Life
Date of Birth	10 January 1992 (Friday)
Birthplace	Ada Foah, Greater Accra Region, Ghana
Date of Death	18 February 2023
Place of Death	Ronesans Rezidans building in Hatay province, Antakya, Turkey
Age (at the time of death)	31 Years
Death Cause	He died during the 2023 earthquake which hit Turkey. He went missing during the earthquake on 6 Februray 2023 when his apartment in Ronesans Rezidans building in Hatay province collapsed. Hataspyor's vice president Mustafa Ozat announced on 7 February 2023 that he was safe and recovering in a hospital. Hataspyor's manager Volkan Demirel announced on 8 February 2023 that he was not yet found. His Turkish agent Nana Sechere announced on 14 February 2023 that he was still missing and only two pairs of shoes were found from the rubble. His death was confirmed on 18 February 2023 when his body was found from the debris of the building, and his mobile was also found from the rubble. His body was flown from Istanbul, Turkey to Accra, Ghana on 19 February 2023 for burial in Ghana. Demirel also revealed in an interview that Atsu was scheduled to fly out of Ghana after his match on 5 February 2023; however, he decided to stay back after hitting the match-winning goal. [2]BBC [3]ESPN
Zodiac sign	Capricorn
Signature
Nationality	Ghanian
Hometown	Ada Foah, Greater Accra Region, Ghana
School	Madina Nakwantang BA 2 Primary School
Religion/Religious Views	He was a devout christian and often shared bible verses on his social media. He credited God as the force behind him reaching to the heights he reached in his career from a humble background. In an interview, he said, "My faith is the most important thing in my life. I know I’m one of the lucky people God has blessed. I’m very lucky and privileged to be in the position. I had nothing and now I’ve got so much I have to give something back." [4]The Guardian
Ethnicity	From his father's side, he belonged to Ada tribe, and from his mother's side, he belonged to Ewes tribe.
Tattoo(s)	He had multiple tattoos on his body including a football tattoo on his left leg.
Relationships & More
Marital Status	Married
Marriage Date	Year, 2012
Family
Wife	Marie-Claire Rupio (German-born author)
Children	He had three children including one daughter and two sons named Joshua and Godwin.
Parents	Father- Emmanuel Twasam Mother- Afiko Twasam
Siblings	He had six brothers and four sisters including a twin sister named Christiana who is a nurse.
Money Factor
Net Worth (approx.)	At the time of death, his net worth was $ 2 million.

Some Lesser Known Facts About Christian Atsu

• Christian Atsu (1992-2023) was a Ghanaian footballer who played for many clubs across professional leagues and also represented Ghana in various tournaments. He played for FC Porto, Chelsea, Newcastle United, and Hataspyor. He played in the 2014 World Cup.

• He liked playing football during his childhood, idolized the Ghanaian legendary footballer Abedi Pele, and played many local and interzonal tournaments for his school Madina Nakwantang BA 2 Primary School.

• He then joined Peace F.C.  and later, he started training at Feyenoord Football Academy in Gomoa Fetteh, Central Ghana. He then moved to the West African Football Academy at Sogakope, Volta Region of Ghana for training.

• In late 2009, he joined Cheetah F.C. to play club football.

• He participated in a 3-day trial for Portuguese club FC Porto and later joined them in January 2010. He played for their youth team, and they won the 2011 FIFA Youth Championship held in Zurich, Switzerland.
  

  Christian Atsu celebrating with FC Porto’s teammates after winning the 2011 FIFA Youth Championship

• He was loaned out by FC Porto to Rio Ave FC for the 2011-12 season and played his debut match in Liga Portugal on 28 August 2011.

• He again played for FC Porto in the 2012-13 season and played nine matches.

• On 1 September 2013, he was signed by Chelsea for five years for £3.5 million; however, he never played any match for them.

• He joined the Dutch club Vitesse Arnhem on loan for the 2013-14 season and played his debut in the Eredivisie on 6 October 2013. He helped them to qualify for the playoffs and finish sixth in the league.
  

  Christian Atsu playing in a match for the Dutch club Vitesse Arnhem

• On 13 August 2014, he joined the English club Everton on loan for the 2014-15 season. He was regarded as an impactful player during his stint.
  

  Christian Atsu playing in a match for the English club Everton

• On 29 May 2015, he joined the English club AFC Bournemouth on loan for the 2015-16 season.
  

  Christian Atsu (right) playing in a match for the English club AFC Bournemouth

• On 25 January 2016, he joined the Spanish club Malaga CF on loan for the 2016-17 season.
  

  Christian Atsu playing a match for Spanish club Malaga CF

• On 31 August 2016, he joined the English club Newcastle United for one year. His contract also had a buy-in clause, which Newcastle used and purchased him for four years for £6.2 million in May 2017. Newcastle’s then-manager Rafael Benitez called him one of the most talented African players of his era.
  

  Christian Atsu and his family with the Trophy after Newcastle United qualified for English Premier League (EPL)

• He represented Ghana in several matches over the course of his career. He played in the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations tournament held in South Africa, the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations held in Equatorial Guinea, the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations held in Gabon, and the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations held in Egypt. He also represented Ghana in the 2014 World Cup held in Brazil.
  

  Christian Atsu playing in a match for Ghana

• On 17 July 2021, he joined the Saudi club Al-Raed for one year and played eight matches in the Saudi Professional League.
  

  Christian Atsu playing in a match for Saudi club Al-Raed

• On 6 September 2022, he joined the Turkish club Hataspyor for one year. His contract with them had an option of purchase for one more year.
  

  Christian Atsu playing in his last match for Turkish club Hataspyor

• He suffered regular injuries throughout his career. He suffered a hamstring injury in December 2014 which sidelined him for 3 weeks and forced him to miss 6 matches. He suffered a bone stress injury in September 2015 which sidelined him for 10 weeks and forced him to miss 9 matches. He tore a muscle fibre in February 2016 which sidelined him for 2 weeks and forced him to miss 2 matches. He strained his thigh muscle in November 2017 which sidelined him for 4 weeks and forced him to miss 4 matches. He suffered a knee injury in April 2018 which sidelined him for 12 weeks and forced him to miss 6 matches. He injured his hamstring which took 2 weeks to recover and forced him to miss 1 match. He suffered a bout of fever which sidelined him for 2 weeks and forced him to miss 2 matches.

• He worked for many charities and did philanthropic work for children and the underprivileged. He became the global ambassador of the Arms Around The Child charity group in 2017 and raised funds to construct a school in Ghana. He donated 80 pairs of football shoes to Cheetah F.C. for the young boys. He donated many things to Becky’s Foundation, an orphanage in Senya Berekum in Ghana. He worked in tandem with the CrimeCheck Foundation of Ghana to help secure the release of many prisoners who were imprisoned for petty crimes. He helped to get the pardon for the release of 40 prisoners and paid for the release of a few of them. He helped secure the release of an old lady and her granddaughter, imprisoned for stealing food. ^[5]The Independent ^[6]Ghanaweb
  

  Christian Atsu meeting children during a charity event

  

  Christian Atsu meeting the children as the ambassador of the Arms Around The Child

• Tributes poured in from several footballers and clubs after the news of his death spread. Former Ghana captain Mohammed Kudus revealed a t-shirt after scoring a free kick goal with the message RIP Atsu written on it. Newcastle United paid their tribute by observing one-minute silence before their match. Ghana’s vice president Mahamudu Bawmia said that Atsu’s death was tragic and a heavy loss to Ghana. ^[7]The Thaiger

Ajax star Mohammed Kudus dedicated his goal to Christian Atsu.

The Ghanaian International scored an incredible freekick in Ajax 4-0 win over Sparta Rotterdam.

IP Holder: @marcgeschwind/Twitter#TheUltimateExperience pic.twitter.com/GbRedvqhlo

— Joy Prime (@JoyPrimeTV) February 19, 2023