Asamoah Gyan’s local manager, Samuel Anim Addo, says his player is happy to be back and will be willing to contribute his quota in helping the Senior National team win the 2019 AFCON which starts in Egypt next month.
Asamoah Gyan retired from the Black Stars on Monday, following coach Kwasi Appiah’s decision to strip him of the captaincy. In an official statement, the player mentioned that “if the decision of the coach is to give captaincy of the tournament to another player while I am named in the team for the tournament, I wish to recuse myself from the tournament.”
However, in an interview with Gyan’s manager, Samuel Anim Addo, he confirmed that a phone call meeting with President Akufo-Addo on Tuesday prompted Gyan to make a U-turn from his earlier decision. He has therefore made himself available for selection by Coach Kwasi Appiah ahead of the tournament.
“Asamoah Gyan has listened to the father of the nation. He told him what, when and why we need him and the fact that he coming back, shouldn’t bring any divided attention. The President added that we need full concentration and full unity in the team to be able to lift the trophy,” Anim said.\
The Black Stars coach is expected to add Gyan to the list of players he has invited for camp ahead of the AFCON which commences in June.
As Ghana’s highest goal scorer, Anim Addo considers Gyan’s qualities as priceless. He emphasized that the Kayserispor forward was inspired to overturn his decision after listening to the advice from football enthusiasts as well as legends of the game who showed him great admiration.
“The captain listened to Ghanaians and the legends who spoke and advised him. He wants to thank everybody for showing him that love, if Ghanaians don’t love him they wouldn’t have told him to come back,” Anim stated.
He added, “The quality and unity he has brought out for so many years cannot be bought anywhere, everybody knows it, in football with that quality, that temperament, experience, the expectation, he has it all as the greatest scorer for Ghana and the highest scorer for Africa at the World Cup,”
“The moments that he will never forget which includes not getting what he wanted are all part of the journey and he thinks he needs to continue to serve the nation, Anim said whiles reminiscing about the 2010 World Cup penalty miss against Uruguay.
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