Asamoah Gyan has admitted all of Ghana will be glued to their TV sets when Luis Suarez and Liverpool face Sunderland in March. The strikers were involved in the World Cup quarter-final in which Suarez denied the Black Stars a match-winning goal with a handball.
He was given a red card for his indiscretion and Gyan stepped up to take the resulting penalty, with the scores locked at 1-1, which hit the crossbar and sent the match into extra time.
The encounter then had to be decided on penalties and Uruguay advanced to the semis – leaving an entire nation and continent heartbroken.
Suarez, meanwhile, celebrated the win with his team-mates and was hailed by his countrymen for getting them into the last four of the global showpiece.
But Gyan revealed while he has moved on, Liverpool’s new signing is still the most hated man in Ghana. He told the Independent: “People in my country hate him. “In his shoes I would have done the same. But the people in my country. He cannot ever go there. He is the most hated man in Ghana.”
Explaining what was going through his mind when he stood on the spot in the final few minutes of regulation time, Gyan added: “Before the penalty I said to myself, ‘This is it. I will put this in, do my dance, and make everyone happy.’
“I knew everyone had confidence in me, and I knew myself that I was going to score, because my record with penalty kicks was excellent. “I had already scored two in the World Cup. Everyone was already celebrating.” “I was going to place the ball to the goalkeeper’s right,” Gyan continued, “but then I saw his movement, also to the right, so I hit it straight, and it hit the crossbar.
“It was the saddest moment, not for me alone but for the whole of Africa. At home nobody criticised me; I’d scored most of our goals and had a great World Cup.
“But I didn’t sleep for a week. It was good for me to think about Roberto Baggio, who did so well for his country but missed a penalty in the [1994] World Cup final. These things happen in football. And I was very happy that I scored the second penalty [in the ensuing shoot-out]. If I had missed that penalty too, I might have quit.”
Gyan has been finding the back of the net with ease at Sunderland to help eradicate his World Cup pain. He scored on his debut, one against Chelsea in the Black Cats’ incredible 3-0 win, an important equaliser against Tottenham and most importantly on Wearside – he netted in the fourth minute of injury time against old foes Newcastle United to steal a share of the spoils.
Where to next for the Ghana ace?
“Well, everybody wants the best. I’m not thinking about moving, but if other clubs are interested in my signature it shows I’m doing my job here,” he said. “Man United is where I want to be. It’s my club. But I’m here, and I’m really happy here.”