Posted by Ghana at the World Cup in 2010 was just a kick away from being the first African country to play in the semi-final of the World Cup.
The Black Stars were handed that opportunity after Barcelona forward Luis Suarez deliberately handled a goal bound header from Dominic Adiyah on the goal line.
A red card was shown to Suarez and a Penalty was awarded to Ghana. Current General captain Asamoah Gyan stepped up, but he couldn’t hit the back of the net as his wild effort struck the post.
After the tragic incident, an image of a furious Stephen Appiah pointing a finger at Asamoah Gyan surfaced the internet. The image since then has created wrangles amongst most Ghanaian football faithfuls, with some believing skipper Stephen Appiah on the day wanted to take the spot kick, but Asamoah Gyan was adamant.
Stephen Appiah in a recent interview with veteran sports journalist Kwabena Yeboah opened up on the incident.
“Asamoah Gyan was our first choice taker and he was the one to take the kick. I wasn’t going to take the ball from him. If you watch from the video you could see me pointing my fingers at the center line, because the referee had whistled for a goal, so I was telling Asamoah Gyan to get the ball to the center line, but he couldn’t hear me because of the Vuvuzela”.
He also added, “No player in the Black Stars could take the ball from me when I had made a decision to take a penalty kick.”
Stephen Appiah’s comments looks to have settled the dust on the issue, but Asamoah Gyan who was also recently interviewed by Kwabena Yeboah gave a different narrative on the issue, one which continues to elongate the issue.
“That picture was after I had missed the penalty”… I was worried, standing there. He came to me and said, Hey! Listen, you are the best penalty taker in the team. Don’t ever dare, You are going to take it, show everyone who you are, I believe in you”
“I was worried and he was motivating me”, he added.
The narratives from the two players which was meant to settle the dust and clear the air on a discussion that had spanned over 10 years now continues to remain up in the air.
It is time to move on from the incident, it just looks like we will never know what really happened on the day.
BJ is the problem. Why didn’t he repeat just what his formal captain said earlier. They shouldn’t bring that pain we endured that night to mind.