I let the nation down - Asamoah Gyan on Uruguay penalty

Asamoah Gyan has opened up on how he felt after missing a late minute extra-time penalty against Uruguay in the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.

July 2, 2020, marked exactly ten years since Ghana failed to emerge as the first African country to book their place in the semi-finals of the FIFA World Cup, after losing 4-2 on penalties.

In an exclusive interview with Pulse Ghana’s Thomas Freeman Yeboah, Asamoah Gyan said he was deeply sad and felt he let the nation down.

“I felt sad and it is a normal thing. I wanted to go there and score for my nation for the whole of Africa and I couldn’t bury the ball at that time. I felt like I let everybody down, but I had to comfort myself and said it was one of those things,” he told Pulse.com.gh.

“Although people were hurt sometimes, I do ask myself questions what about me on the field. What about me who missed the penalty, how do I feel? I feel like people don’t think about what the player is going through on the field of play, but they are thinking about themselves, but at the end of the day, it is part of the game. It happens, there are a lot of great players who miss penalties".

It would be recalled that on the brink 120 minutes of football between Ghana and Uruguay in the quarter-finals of the 2010 FIFA World Cup Luis Suarez denied Dominic Adiyeah the match-winner when he prevented the Ghanaian striker's header from entering the net with his two hands at a time the game was one all.

The Barcelona striker was sent off and a penalty was awarded for Ghana, but Asamoah Gyan who stepped up for the kick saw his penalty hit the woodwork.

He however mustered courage and scored from the penalty shootout, but Ghana lost against the South Americans after John Mensah and Dominic Adiyeah missed their kicks

Ghana would have been the first African country to reach the semi-finals of the Mundial.

Several Ghanaians got hurt about the elimination and rued missing such a great opportunity to make history.

Several commentaries state that Asamoah Gyan missed several thousand pages of history due to the miss.