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I guess we can say this World Cup was more than just watching Kwadwo Asamoah playing for his country. Considering his manager played him at a not-so-natural position in the group stage, there was plenty of attention to be put on the 25-year-old Ghanian who has been such a good player at Juventus the past two years.
But even with Asamoah being one of his country's best players at an unnatural position, he was one of their best performers at the 2014 World Cup.
It wasn't enough to keep the Black Stars in Brazil, though.
Despite one hell of an assist to Asamoah Gyan, Asamoah and Ghana are heading home just like 15 other teams. Their 2-1 loss to put the nail in the coffin in what had to be a Thursday afternoon in Brazil where Ghana not only got a win and three points, but some help from the United States-Germany game.
They didn't get it. And because of it, they're heading home.
The obvious question was if Asamoah is envisioned as a long-term player at left back. He vehemently voiced his displeasure with playing in defense after Ghana's loss to the United States in their World Cup opener. Could it have been a product of a tough loss? Maybe, but it's going to be interesting what Antonio Conte does if the rumored switch to a 4-3-3 formation becomes a reality.
When it's all said and done, five Juventus players from the original 12 involved in the World Cup remain. Chile's Arturo Vidal and Mauricio Isla will face Brazil at the Estadio Mineirao on Saturday; Martín Cáceres and Uruguay — minus the human shark known as Luis Suárez — takes on Colombia an hour after Chile-Brazil concludes. Two days later, Paul Pogba continues his quest for world dominance when France takes on Nigeria in Monday's first game. Twenty-four hours later, Stephan Lichtsteiner and Switzerland look to shut down that little magician named Leo Messi.
So just because Italy were incredibly stupid and got eliminated from the World Cup a lot earlier than most of us expected them to, it doesn't mean that all of the Juventus players in Brazil are headed home.
