I vowed to help Nigerians over Ghanaians - Asamoah Gyan's thought after AFCON 2008 backlash

Former Black Stars skipper, Asamoah Gyan has stated that at some point in his career, he vowed to give Nigerians favours over Ghanaians should the need arise.

According to Gyan, he was compelled to have such a thought by the insults he received from 'unappreciative' Ghanaians during the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations.

He asserted that

Read full articleafter missing an open goal against Namibia during the tournament, Ghanaians abused him and his family, despite choosing to play for the Black Stars through injury.

In his narration on the Dentaa Show, Asamoah Gyan said he was on the verge of completing a move to Manchester City and had been advised to take some time off to regain full fitness before completing the transfer.

However, Gyan, eager to make his Africa Cup of Nations debut on home soil, defied his agent's advice. And, despite making the sacrifice of being injected to represent his country, he was chastised for squandering an opportunity.

"In that tournament, I had to be injected to kill the pain and force myself to play. There was one game against Namibia, people were expecting Ghana to beat them 10-0 or something. And it was one of those days, there was a chance. It was a very acute angle, the goalkeeper came to catch the ball and he left the ball. I turned and it was an acute angle so I shot the ball and the ball went wide.

"And then people just jumped on me that I missed it and insulted me and threatened my family. It was even worse than the World Cup thing. And that was the time I was like 'I'm sacrificing for you people, you don't see it."

Gyan recalled an encounter with his mother after the incident. According to him, he was saddened while interacting with his mother.

He said: "My mom called me in the morning crying. She has never been hurt like that so I started crying and that was when I threatened to leave the camp. I took my things and the former president (John Agyekum Kuffour) came and spoke to me. But that time, my heart was already gone. I was off the tournament, I cried the whole day and that was the end of the tournament for me."

He went on to say that some Ghanaians barged into his home to insult his mother.

"There were a lot of things going on and I really got upset. We played against Nigeria in the quarter-final, although I played in that game, I wasn't happy. And in that game, I was in pain, I was upset, very emotional. My last game was in the quarter-final against Nigeria. So, I didn't play in the semi-finals and we lost against Cameroon," he said.

The Black Stars' all-time top scorer concluded that after the tournament, he had to have surgery, which is when he pledged to help a Nigerian in need over a Ghanaian.

"After the tournament, I had to go for a scan, and they told me I had to go for an operation and I have to go out for like five months. That time, I vowed that when I see a Ghanaian outside and I see a Nigerian, I will help the Nigerian. It was that bad and I was very mad. And a miracle happened, I was in a hospital bed when I signed the contract with France."

During the 2008 AFCON, Ghana failed to do a 'host and win' as their journey ended in the semi-finals, losing to Cameroon. After defeating Ivory Coast in the third-fourth game, the four-time AFCON champions settled for a bronze medal.


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