I wished to see Afena Gyan make it to Qatar, just because judging from those two crucial games in Kumasi and Abuja, which decided whether we would participate in the Mundial or not, he was the player who put in much work, for me.Â
In Kumasi, he took all of us by surprise. Before the game, we had no ‘useful’ striker, as against Nigeria’s numerous options. It was this young man who stood up for us. Attracted and occupied defenders and midfielders and gave our defense set up some much-needed respite against the star-studded and more compact Nigeria side.Â
Yes, he is not at his peak yet, but we have to nurse his confidence and earn his future commitment to the team. The many flamboyant strikers available to the team today wrote us off at the time, but Afena Gyan didn’t.Â
My philosophy for inviting players to the national team, especially for key tournaments like this, is to balance quality with loyalty and commitment. Afena may be low on quality for now, but we owe that young man a place in the Mundial he toiled to qualify us for.
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