Sports News of Thursday, 8 March 2018
Source: citifmonline.com
2018-03-08
Asamoah has been praised for his role as Juventus beat Tottenham to progress in the Champions League
Ghana’s Kwadwo Asamoah says Juventus’ progression to the last 8 of the UEFA Champions League is part of a journey they hope will end in the final in Kiev later this year.
Juventus came back from a goal down to score twice at Wembley against Tottenham through Gonzalo Higuian and Paulo Dybala to send to the quarter finals via a 4-3 aggregate scoreline.
Asamoah came off the bench in the 60th minute to replace French midfielder, Blaise Matuidi, and after the match, the former Udinese man said that making it past Spurs would urge them to reach the finals of the competition again since their last appearance in 2015.
He also said their motivation to go far in the competition was to see their goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon have another shot at winning the trophy.
”We are fighting until the end. We are not looking at the quarter or semi-finals. We are very happy for Buffon. He is not going to the World Cup so this means a lot to him. It could be his final attempt but we are happy that we have made it to the last 8.”
Asamoah’s introduction was part of some tactical changes made by Juventus coach, Massimiliano Allegri, in the second half of the tie to swing things their way and he spoke of Asamoah’s value to the team on the night.
“I made changes because we needed players with different characteristics, as Asamoah is extraordinary in his passing, and has been really underestimated throughout his career.”
Juventus, Manchester City, Liverpool and Real Madrid have so far qualified for the quarter finals of the Champions League.