''NPP's' Asamoah Gyan’s 2010 penalty miss was because NDC was in power’ — Dafeamekpor

Rockson Nelson Dafeamekpor, the Member of Parliament for South Dayi, has accused former Black Stars captain Asamoah Gyan of intentionally missing a crucial penalty kick against Uruguay during the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

He argued that the football legend did that to deny the then-ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) government glory.

In an interview on Accra-based Radio XYZ, Dafeamekpor expressed regret for realizing this now after Gyan was named head of the New Patriotic Party's (NPP) manifesto sub-committee on sports.

"I am of the opinion that Asamoah Gyan intentionally threw away that penalty because it was under NDC. It's today that I've come to the realization that he threw away the penalty in the 2010 World Cup and the African Cup because the glory would have come to the NDC," he said.

He added, "Asamoah Gyan is now part of the Bawumia campaign team. There is everything wrong with that because when you are a national figure and you become partisan I can reasonably say that it's because of politics you threw that penalty away so that the NDC government will not get the glory. I am telling you that I feel the pain."

Gyan's missed penalty came in the dying minutes of extra time when the game was a 1-1 tie with Uruguay in the quarter-final of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

A goal would have sent Ghana through to the semi-finals of the competition, which would have been the first time an African nation has reached that far.

However, Gyan's kick was saved by Uruguayan goalkeeper Fernando Muslera, resulting in a penalty shootout that Ghana removed.

It remains one of the most devastating moments in Ghana's football history.