2008 AFCON criticism made me strong - Asamoah Gyan

Legendary Ghanaian forward Asamoah Gyan says the heavy criticism he suffered at the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations toughened him up and made him a better player.

Gyan featured in his first ever Nations Cup tournament when Ghana hosted the 2008 edition. The striker had missed the previous tournament 2 years earlier due to injury and was keen to help the Black Stars conquer the continent this time around.

The hopes of Ghanaians were high and the choruses of ‘host and win’ run through the several streets of the country. However things didn’t get off to the expected start for Asamoah Gyan.

The young striker struggled in the early stages of the tournament, and following the barrage of scolding that came his way, he got troubled enough to leave camp as the tournament went on.

He told TV3 Sports “that was the criticism that really hit me. It was crazy; I hadn’t experienced that before in my whole career. I was really sad; I couldn’t bear it anymore so I decided to leave the camp because I felt people were being unfair to me.

Gyan was eventually persuaded to return to camp by then president John Agyekum Kuffour.

Overall, he netted just once in the competition but he took home some valuable lessons that shaped his career. He has revealed that he had to play with pain and believes most of the criticisms were unfair considering the sacrifice he had made, just to play.

“And even at that time, I had to sacrifice because I was injured and I had to be injected to just die for my country. So when the criticisms were coming, I felt like it was personal…being inexperienced at that time, I was down” he remarked.

“That was the first time and that really taught me a lesson. For me it has made me a very strong man until now”, he concluded.

Gyan certainly used the lessons he drew from that experience well. Though he’s failed to help Ghana annex the continental showpiece, he has personally gone on to become Ghana’s all-time top scorer for the senior national football team.