Asamoah Gyan is not worried by his travails in front of goal at the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations, insisting that giving his all to help the team is important than the statistics.
The Black Stars captain has not found the net in despite contributing to two of Ghana's three goals so far in Group B of the competition in South Africa.
Gyan has accepted his new role as leader and wants to lead by example. By sacrificing.
“I am not thinking about scoring now, I thinking about sacrificing for the team,” Gyan told www.ghanafa.org.
“As a leader, I have done a lot for the country and it’s now time for me to sacrifice for the team.
“Anytime we are playing, you can see two defenders on me so I have to just sacrifice for the team.”
For the 27 year-old striker who is making his fourth successive appearance at the Nations Cup, the goals have proved harder to come by. He has scored only five goals in all of his Nations Cup participation so far.
But despite drawing blanks, Gyan believes he will hit the target when the chance comes.
“When I get the opportunity to score, it will be there," said the confident Ghana captain.
“Although people were criticizing [me] for missing a couple of chances, I didn’t miss a couple of chances.
“I sacrifice and do my effort to help the team. If it doesn’t go in it doesn’t mean I miss chances. We are looking forward to the next game.”
Ghana meet Niger in the final group match. A win for Ghana would ensure top place in the group and a quarter-final in Port Elizabeth on February 2 against the runners-up from Group A.