A few weeks before his departure from FC Schalke 04, Gerald Asamoah gave a remarkable interview to the “Ultras Gelsenkirchen”.

Probably no one has embodied FC Schalke 04 in recent years like Mike Büskens and Gerald Asamoah. While the future of the 2022 promotion coach and current assistant coach is still unclear beyond this season, Asamoah has known for several weeks that after almost 25 years at S04, he is calling it a day.

The former international, who has a close relationship with the Ultras Gelsenkirchen, has now given a farewell interview in the fan organization’s Postille. It deals in detail with his beginnings at Schalke, a special relationship with Gelsenkirchen and Huub Stevens and, above all, with Rudi Assauer.

It was thanks to him that he ended up at Schalke in 1999 despite his congenital heart defect. Later, he almost had a father-son relationship with the long-time Schalke manager.

And after his move from Hanover, Asamaoh quickly realized what the club means to the people here. Which is why he can only recommend every player to live near the club at least once.

Asamoah always actively stood up for Schalke and its values. His throat-cutting gesture in the derby against Roman Weiderfeller is unforgettable. However, he quickly became an irritant among fans of other clubs. “I was at the game in Essen, I was watching Henning (Matriciani, editor’s note) and fans recognized me and they were very, very aggressive. You notice the hatred that people have because you simply stand for Schalke.”

Asamoah and Großkreutz will no longer be friends

In all honesty, he added: “I have the same feeling when I see Großkreutz. I’m honest, he’s not my friend because he lives his club.”

This has even gone so far that he avoids Dortmund as much as possible, which cannot always be avoided. “When I travel to Hamburg, for example, and have to change trains in Dortmund, I have a bad feeling. You can’t judge people more and more often. There are idiots who swear at you, but others are also nice. I usually put my hood on because I don’t want to provoke people,” says Asamoah.

He has had fewer encounters with fans of Rot-Weiss Essen, but: “I remember when I opened the fan store in Essen. Some people were up in arms about it. But the hate came more from the Dortmund fans. “

I can’t go to Dortmund and sit in a doctor’s surgery there

Gerald Asamoah

And then he recounted an anecdote with former coach Felix Magath. “When Magath was coach here at the time, our team doctor was based in Dortmund. They said that you had to go to Dortmund if you were ill. I said to the coach that I wouldn’t do that. I can’t go to Dortmund and sit in a doctor’s surgery there.”

Magath then accepted that. However, Asamoah also said that there had always been supporters of other clubs who respected him as a Schalke player because they have the same passion for their club.

Asamoah now hopes that he will find another employer in the summer because of his deep connection to the Royal Blues, which will remain, and that it is not a farewell forever