Asamoah Gyan addresses customized armband saga in his book

Asamoah Gyan launches his book LeGyandary

Kwesi Appiah, Dede Ayew was aware of my customised armband - Asamoah Gyan

Ghana beat Ethiopia in AFCON qualifiers

Read full articleas Asamoah Gyan scores 50th goal international goal


Asamoah Gyan in his book 'LeGyandary' dedicated a chapter to telling his side of the story of how he came about using a customised armband during Ghana's African Cup of Nations qualifier against Ethiopia in 2017.

According to Gyan, the reason behind the customised armband was to mark his incredible feat of becoming the fifth African to score 50 goals for his country.

"When the call up came for the qualifier against Ethiopia I knew I had the chance to do what only five Africans had done. I contacted a friend from PUMA who designed a special armband for me. I had my image printed on the band to celebrate that fiftieth goal we had all been waiting for. I brought the band along for the game. I would wear it to commemorate how far I had come."

But his act led to criticisms from the media with many claiming it was against FIFA rules.

Others also linked it to a supposed feud between him and his then-assistant Dede Ayew, who many said was in a 'rush' to take Gyan's position.

However, in the book, Asamoah Gyan said Dede Ayew and head coach, Kwesi Appiah were involved in his plan to use the customised armband for the game.

"I had an earlier discussion with my coach, Kwesi Appiah, and assistant captain, Andre Ayew about my plan. They were both supportive of the act and thought it was amusing. I asked Andre to carry the original armband in case I had to be substituted since I knew how it would look if I handed over a customized armband to him during the game."

Lo and behold Gyan connected a cross from the left to give Ghana to the opener, scoring what was his fiftieth goal in his international career. The purpose of the customised armband served.

Ghana won the game 5-0 and Asamoah Gyan set a record but the headlines, the morning after the game were about the customised armband.

The Black Stars all-time topscorer said it was disappointing to read the report and at some point felt he had miscalculated his goals.

"The following day, I woke up to the news that startled me to the bone. I slept smiling to myself, thinking about the headlines that would celebrate my fiftieth goal. I probably even dreamt about how everyone was talking about how hard I've worked to reach that number of goals. But I woke up to see the armband was the headline. Not a single outlet talked about that remarkable goal that carried me into the elite class.

"No one even remembered how remarkable that feat was. What everyone took home from that game was a customised armband with my face on it. Wow! I was shocked and confused. Was that the only thing everyone saw? At one point I thought maybe I had miscalculated the number of goals. But then I realised it was just the media being the media. The focus will definitely be on the negatives."

Asamoah Gyan launched his LeGyandary book on April, 30 at the Kimpiski hostel.


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