Brisbane Roar February signing Asumah Abubakar is quickly becoming one of the forwards to watch in the Isuzu UTE A-League as he hurtles towards the end of the regular season in a purple patch of league form.
Born in Ghana, 27-year-old Abubakar represented Portugal at Under-19 level and arrived at Brisbane from Grasshopper Club Zurich in mid-February, having accrued almost 100 Swiss Super League appearances at Grasshopper, FC Luzern and FC Lugarno before his arrival in the A-Leagues.
The exciting forward bagged his fourth league goal in his ninth appearance for Brisbane on Tuesday night, helping the Roar come from one goal down to draw 1-1 with top-six hopefuls Adelaide United; Abubakar was the standout player on the night in a continuation of his impressive form since joining the club.
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Post-game, Roar head coach Zadkovich was asked about Abubakar’s impact since joining the club and whether he wished to have had the former Portugal youth international at his disposal since the beginning of the 2024-25 campaign.
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Zadkovich then revealed that his failed off-season pursuit of former Newcastle Jets striker Archie Goodwin – who instead joined Adelaide United and is currently equal top of the Golden Boot standings on 13 goals – coupled with Thomas Waddingham’s departure to English club Portsmouth in January, opened the door for Abubakar to join the club and quickly make his mark.
“Signings are always funny,” Zadkovich told Network 10.
“I remember bringing Adam Taggart to Perth, which was a good signing in the transfer window in January, and he ended up getting Golden Boot the following year.
“I’m really close with Archie Goodwin and I had agreed to have Archie Goodwin sign to Brisbane Roar at the start of the season, but we offered him a contract of about $90,000. It’s not enough to bring players to the club.
“So then we went through the process of developing a young Thomas Waddingham… a fantastic young Queenslander that’s gone on to play in the Championship.
“That (left) us with a little bit of money to find a player above the level, and we found Asumah with our recruitment framework and doing our homework on the right personalities and the right profiles. Asumah is a fantastic player.”
Abubakar scored his fourth goal for Brisbane on Tuesday night, and followed the long-range strike with a pitchside embrace with Zadkovich – something he’s done on all four occasions he’s scored so far this season.
Post-game, Abubakar explained that celebrating with Zadkovich after each of his Roar goals is a gesture of gratitude to his head coach for bringing him to the Isuzu UTE A-League.
“I’m grateful for him bringing me here to show my qualities and talent to Australia as well,” he said.
“This is my way of showing my appreciation to him, so every goal I try to celebrate with him to make him know that I’m very happy to be here.”
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Signed to Brisbane for the remainder of the 2024-25 season, Abubakar is not ruling out extending his stay in Queensland.
“As it looks like, I’m very happy here, so if something comes from Brisbane, I would be happy to stay here,” he said. “It’s also part of the game; you have to see where you get the chance to play. I’m really open.”
Abubakar was interviewed post-game by Network 10 commentator Teo Pellizzeri and Brisbane Roar legend Erik Paartalu who, at the conclusion of the conversation with Brisbane’s in-form spearhead, marvelled at Abubakar’s on-field performance, as well as his remarks about Roar boss Zadkovich and the club itself.
“He was top class,” Paartalu said. “His interview was that as well. You can just see what kind of person Ruben Zadkovich has signed.
“Talk about players making the difference or changing a game, I think Brisbane Roar needed this sort of player from the start of the season.
“You can just see he’s galvanising his troops… it’s all about going forward, but it’s so positive for the rest of the players behind him, seeing somebody going there and finishing the play.”
