Soccer News of Monday, 26 January 2015
Source: dailysoccerghana.com
Black Stars skipper Asamoah Gyan has set a target to make history by becoming the first captain to lead Ghana to end the 33-year wait for a trophy at an Africa Cup of Nations tournament.
Since Emmanuel Quarshie captained Ghana to win the Libya 1982 AFCON, many other Black Stars skippers including Abedi Ayew Pele, Joe Addo, Tony Baffoe, CK Akunnor, Stephen Appiah and John Mensah have been unlucky enough to lift the coveted continental trophy.
But, after scoring the 92nd minute goal against Algeria to keep Ghana in the Equatorial Guinea 2015 and equaling Osei Kofi’s all-time record of seven tournament goals last Friday, Al Ain striker is aware he must keep scoring to achieve his goal of captaining the Black Stars to an AFCON triumph.
“My aim as captain of the team is to achieve something; win trophies for Ghana because it has been a while, about 33 years. It’s been a worry. I am a striker leading the team so if I score and the team wins, everybody gets happy. Scoring that late goal is part of my job,” Gyan told Metro TV.
Ghana is in desperate need of a victory over South Africa in the final group encounter to sail through to the quarterfinal stage of the AFCON 2015. Ahead of the clash with the Bafana Bafana, Asamoah Gyan has described Shakes Mashaba’s side as a tricky opposition.
“For me, they are one of the tricky opponents in our group. They’ve got skillful players who move a lot. They cause problems for the opponent and create a lot of chances also. It’s not going to be an easy side,” the former Udinese and Sunderland attacker said.
“South Africa is a good country. They did so well in the qualifiers. We have to just stay focused and make sure we qualify for the next stage of the competition because that’s what matters now,” he added.