Asamoah Gyan is still unhappy about Ayew being captain - Joshua Clottey

It will be recalled that, about a month to AFCON 2019, Black Stars Skipper Asamoah Gyan shockingly announced resignation from international duty only a month to the Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt.

In a statement, the 33-year-old Kayserispor striker - Ghana's most capped and all-time top scorer of 51 goals in 106 matches - cited displeasure about the technical team's decision to strip him of the captaincy and rather be handed the less prestigious 'General Captain' role usually held by a very senior member of the team. The issue became a public discourse and later resolved by the president of Ghana.

Commenting on the issue, former IBF Welterweight champion Joshua Clottey opined that Asamoah Gyan is still not happy about Dede Ayew being captain.

He told DJ Nyaami in an interview on SVTV Africa that, Asamoah Gyan is showing maturity by being cool with the issue but deep down his heart, he is unhappy.

"I don't know the fate of Ghana in this AFCON because of the issue between Asamoah & Dede. The truth is, Asamoah Gyan has taken the issue cool because he is a mature guy and acting as if everything is fine but I know within heart, it's not gonna be easy for him for giving the captain to Dede"

Asked if he thinks Ghana will win this AFCON, he replied "It will be tough paa because of the same issue between Asamoah and Dede. Asamoah has said a lot about his captaincy and they've taken the captaincy away from him, there will no way he will be happy. The coach should have done it in a good manner where Asamoah would not be mad about the situation"

He furthered that, Asamoah Gyan and some other players are not psychologically fit and this may affect their performance in the tournament.

The 2019 Africa Cup of Nations, known as the Total 2019 Africa Cup of Nations, is scheduled to be the 32nd edition of the Africa Cup of Nations.

The tournament will be hosted by Egypt. The competition will be held from 21 June to 19 July 2019, as per the decision of the CAF Executive Committee on 20 July 2017 to move the Africa Cup of Nations from January/February to June/July for the first time.

It will also be the first Africa Cup of Nations expanded from 16 to 24 teams.