AFCON 2019: Not Fielding Gyan Was A Huge Mistake - Dr Nyaho Tamakloe

Dr Nyaho Nyaho-Tamakloe, a former Ghana Football Association chairman says Coach Kwesi Appiah’s decision to keep Asamoah Gyan on the bench during Ghana’s games at the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) tournament was a mistake.

Gyan did not start any of Ghana's matches from the group phase to the round of games.

According to former Hearts of Oak board member, the Kayserispor striker remains one of Ghana’s trusted and most experienced arrowheads, making it highly unacceptable to start him from the bench and insisted Black Stars’ exit from the 2019 tournament could be attributed to poor technical decisions by the coach.

Dr Nyaho-Tamakloe said the failure to start the General Captain in the game against Tunisia also contributed significantly to Ghana’s defeat because Gyan’s introduction, later on, changed the game and exerted pressure on the Carthage Eagles.

“Despite the fact that Gyan was not the captain, he (Coach Appiah) needed an arrowhead like Gyan in the game,” he told GraphicSports.

“It wasn’t until he brought on Asamoah Gyan that saw some changes in the game,” Dr Nyaho-Tamakloe recalled and slammed the Stars coach for the poor decision.

“The coach would confess that not bringing Asamoah was part of his downfall”, the Medical Doctor noted.

The former GFA boss also recalled the various controversies that ensued prior to the departure of the team to the tournament, insisting that they contributed to Ghana’s poor performance.

“Right from the beginning when the captaincy was given to Andre Ayew was the beginning of our problem. That decision was a big mistake which affected the team’s performance,” Dr Nyaho-Tamakoe said.