“The timing was wrong” – Gyan speaks on losing Black Stars captaincy
The legendary striker says being replaced by Andre was not the problem.
Asamoah Gyan has shed light on the controversy that surrounded his Black Stars captaincy prior to the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon), saying he had no qualms about the decision but rather its timing.
Gyan was stripped of the armband by then coach Kwasi Appiah and replaced by Andre Ayew prior to naming his squad for the tournament in Egypt.
To the 34-year-old Ghana all-time scorer, taking such a crucial decision just few weeks to the tournament was not healthy.
In a Twitter video chat on Juliet Bawuah’s #InConversationWith series, Gyan said:
“I had no problem with the decision to take the captaincy from me to my colleague but how it was done was my issue.
“Personally, I was preparing for the tournament like anybody else will and if the coach had already made his plans thinking because of injuries, I wasn’t part of his team then all of a sudden I get well and start scoring goals and then the person had no option than to put me in the team, me being the captain, a month to the tournament you don’t decide [to change]. For me, it’s something that was not necessary.”
Gyan, who was handed the Ghana national team captaincy by same Kwasi Appiah back in 2012, further explained his initial decision to declare his unavailability for the Egypt Afcon:
“My issue with the coach about the decision was as captain of the team for all these years, if you think that I’m not in your plans, just take me out and go with the team. And even if you want to be smart, and I’m not to be the captain, don’t put me on the field. If you want Andre to be the captain, he can do it at any time. He was my assistant and always assumed the role in my absence. So if you want to take me there [Afcon], don’t put me on the field.
“So I asked what if I’m on the field what is going to happen? And then he said if I’m on, Andre is still going to be the captain. So I said okay is it the right time to do this without telling me months before? This is not the right time to do this. I didn’t understand why he did that.”
“I don’t blame Andre for being the captain because he also has the qualities. He’s got it all; knows how to speak to the players but my problem was [with] the person who made the decision. I think the timing was wrong,” he added.
Asamoah Gyan had to rescind his retirement decision following an intervention by Ghana President Nana Akufo-Addo. He was, however, limited to a bit-part role as the Black Stars woefully failed in their quest to end the country’s Afcon rophy drought.
