Phoenix Rising FC Head Coach Rick Schantz is short of words to describe the incompatible captain Solomon Asante.
According to the gaffer, what Asante has brought to Arizona has been far greater than the numbers he’s produced on the field.
Speaking in an extensive interview with the press, the ecstatic coach was full of praise for the Ghanaian winger.
“Asante has really transcended into a cornerstone of our club,” Schantz said before Wednesday’s game. “His professionalism, his leadership, being the captain, this guy does everything right, every day.”
He noted that the Ghana International has always been a ‘professional’ with his attitude towards training and his family has been exceptionally successful on and off the pitch.
“From his conditioning, to his flexibility, to his leadership in the locker room, to the sense of joy he brings to the game, there’s plenty to admire. So too, his commitment to his family in Ghana, where he’s worked his daily routine of training and rest around also making sure he makes daily contact with home.
Furthermore, Schantz revealed how the Ghanaian winger takes rest after training to stay awake late in the night to speak to his children before they leave for school in Ghana on daily basis.
“He stays up into the wee hours of the night so he can talk to his kids,” said Schantz. “After training, he’ll sleep all afternoon and then he gets up at like seven or eight and stays up until two or three because he talks to his kids before they go to school.”
The 29-year-old Ghanaian winger, Asante, was a clear winner of the Championship’s MVP award, becoming only the second player to lead the league in goals and assists in the same year.
Schantz; “he may have competition for that title from his own locker room with Jamaican international Junior Flemmings making it nine goals in eight games with the opener against Los Dos to continue his own outstanding campaign but in Phoenix, there’s only one Solo, and he’s still the star that shines brightest in the desert sky.”
In conclusion the Phoenix Rising manager said:
“He’s just an amazing man, and he’s the reason why every year, when we add players or lose players, you look for guys that have his character and treat the game the way that Solomon Asante does,” said Schantz. “He’s been a major, major impact on our organization, and I think that as well as everyone else is doing, we can never, ever overlook the impact that Solo has on this team. He’s clearly the most important guy.”
The former Berekum Chelsea man has six goals and eight assists in nine games this campaign in the United States League Championships.
