Asamoah Gyan: “My mates were cowards against Uruguay when we were awarded the penalty”

Ghana against Uruguay in the quarter-finals of the 2010 FIFA World Cup hosted in South Africa will always bring back memories.

Ghana would have secured a place in the semi-finals of the FIFA World Cup had Gyan scored from the 12 yards. Dominic Adiyiah’s goal-bound header in the extra time was handled by Luis Suarez on the goal line. Ghana was subsequently awarded a penalty and Gyan missed it.

The camera captured Gyan taking the ball away from veteran Stephen Appiah before taking the penalty even though, Baby Jet was the first penalty taker.

Speaking live on Instagram on Wednesday night, the former Black Stars skipper slammed his mates and described them as cowards for not showing up when the referee awarded the Black Stars the penalty.

“When the penalty miss happened, I was abused and called names because some people said I should have left it for someone else. Why didn’t they step up to take it? They were afraid. Cowards. I will say it—they are cowards,” Gyan declared.

“How could anyone suggest that I missed the penalty against Uruguay on purpose? For what reason exactly? I was Ghana’s first-choice penalty taker. Why would you go behind my back and talk about me missing the penalty? The fans can say what they want, but sometimes we need to educate them. Yet, nobody spoke up for me.”

Gyan spoke with emotions when addressing the penalty issue. The all-time top scorer for Ghana questioned why none of his teammates has been able to defend him whenever Ghanaians decide to insult him for missing the penalty.