General News of Sunday, 2 July 2017

Source: www.ghanaweb.com

Trending GH: Ghanaians sympathise with Asamoah Gyan following penalty miss

Some Ghanaians believe Asamoah Gyan should be given another chance play videoSome Ghanaians believe Asamoah Gyan should be given another chance

The strides made by several Ghanaian players globally has touted the country’s football flair across the globe.

Mother of all teams in Ghana is the Blacks Stars which has made not only Ghana but the entire African continent proud.

Despite its feats however, several players under the team have come under criticisms in various instances.

Most recent to have sparked criticism from sections of the public is Black Stars Captain, Asamoah Gyan. Gyan has been trolled severally by Ghanaians for missing penalty shoot outs in some games.

On 2nd July 2010, Asamoah Gyan missed a penalty in the field of play after Ghana progressed beyond the group stage and reached the quarter finals of the World Cup. Ghana was defeated by Uruguay on penalties after Luis Suárez controversially handballed on the goal line deep into extra time, denying Ghana an almost certain winning goal.

Had Ghana won their quarter final, they would have become the first African nation to progress to the semi-finals of the world cup, but the stars were denied the opportunity when Gyan’s shot struck the goal post leading to their defeat in the shoot outs.

Captain, Asamoah Gyan for a long time after the last, refrained from taking any penalty shootouts.

Luck however did not shine on his path when he decided to end his "penalty exile" and take another try as it only resulted in another loss; a 2-1 defeat to USA on Saturday July 1, 2017 at the Pratt and Whitney stadium.

The team was awarded a penalty on the stroke of half time after Frank Acheampong was brought down in the box.

Ghanaians despite their displeasure at the Captain’s performance as far as penalties are concerned, have sympathised with him. For many, they would rather prefer that he remains in that position seeing the remarkable efforts he has made in previous games at least until an “equally qualified and experienced” player is identified for that role.