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02.07.2017 Opinion

Gyan, Ghana's greatest striker of all time

By Edward Gyasi
Gyan, Ghana's greatest striker of all time
02.07.2017 LISTEN

Asamoah 'babyjet' Gyan has proven beyond reasonable doubt that he is the greatest striker in Ghanaian football history. Perhaps his legendary status can not be seen as he's still in his boots but once he drops it, his name would be in the football books of Ghana forever, I reckon.

His young life has not been less of controversies, each passing year has got its own stains but the manner he handles them is just inspirational to all athletes.

Gyan shoot to fame after a blissful stint with Liberty Professionals, at a tender age of 17, he took the Ghana Premier League by storm where he scored 10 goals in 16 appearances.

This feat earned him a call up to the Senior national team where he became the youngest in the squad. After scoring his debut goal in his debut game against Somalia on November 19, 2003 at the Accra sports stadium, Gyan has never stopped banging in the goals.

The 32 year old has become the all time top scorer for the Blackstars scoring a whooping 51 goals and eventually becoming the skipper.

This might not be incredible but it's worth mentioning, Gyan has won both silver and bronze medals in the African cup of Nations. He has participated in three FIFA World Cups and seven African Cup of Nations with a record of six consecutive semifinals.

Regardless of the aforementioned impeccable achievements of Gyan, his successful career has been shrouded by repetitive controversies, the Pre-Afcon 2008 criticisms, 2010 penalty miss, Castro's mysterious story, Sarah Kwablah's rsaga, and currently, the missed penalty in USA friendly encounter.

The most irrelevant controversy of all is the most recent one, Many are questioning why Gyan decided to take the penalty after some serious vows.

Notwithstanding his reasons, Why should the penalty miss generate a controversy to shroud a well taken free kick?

This game describes perfectly how Asamoah Gyan's career has been thus far, he falls, he wakes and comes back even stronger. A boomerang of a player, his mental toughness is very enviable in the world of sports.

Gyan in an interview described how his attitude has helped his career, saying "Steve Bruce signed me because of my mental toughness, he told me that he brought me to England because of what I did against Uruguay, where I decided to take another penalty after missing one, it was a great deal to him".

Gyan made vows not to take penalty kicks for Ghana again after the 2010 miss, but there was a turn around in Connecticut last night, I might not know his reasons but I think he wanted the world to know that in football there are ups and downs, he went down with so much criticisms after a heartbreaking penalty kick in 2010 and it was time to overcome the fear.

Regardless of how Ghanaians treated him after the miss, Yesterday he thought he must be a man enough, to let go the fact that he broke the heart of many Ghanaians including his family and perhaps disrespect the vows he made.

This is his country, he must be responsible as a captain, as a man and as a striker. After-all, 'it's a man who takes a bitter medicine'. He must not leave fears in the young ones who are emulating him in the team.

Gyan might have missed it again but that free kick against the same goalkeeper depicts how mentally tough he is, a peculiar feature, that every footballer yearns for. He might not be your favorite striker but he comes second to none, and the numbers do not lie.

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