Asamoah Gyan has disclosed that Stephen Appiah's pep talk after he missed from the spot kick against Uruguay encouraged him to step up for the first kick during the shootout.

Gyan missed the last kick of the game against in regulation time in the quarter-finals of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa against Uruguay.

A picture which popped up after the game suggested Stephen Appiah scolded Gyan for missing the penalty that would have qualified Ghana to the semi-finals of the FIFA World Cup for the first time, but the former Sunderland striker has revealed that his skipper at the time motivated him after the kick to clear all doubts.

“I was worried and Stephen Appiah approached me and told me that I should stop thinking of the miss. He said you are the best penalty taker in the team, Gyan told Pulse Ghana in an interview in March, 2010.


“You are going to take it, show everyone who you are, I believe in you and that motivated me to score during the penalty shootout”.

Asamoah Gyan is Ghana’s all-time top scorer with 51 goals.