Last night after barely catching a breath from the aftermath of all the drama at the 20th edition of the Vodafone Ghana Music Awards, captain, or should I say, ex-captain of the Black Stars, Asamoah Gyan, dropped a huge bombshell; his retirement from the national team.
This decision came with just a few weeks to this year’s African Cup of Nations where everyone expected Gyan to play a role in it. Well! No problem then. Gyan had had a blistering career as a Black Stars player contributing an average 1 goal every two games he played and earning himself the title as Ghana’s all-time top marksman.
But why was he retiring? In simple terms as per his statement, was his inability to accept his removal as captain of the Black Stars when he will be going to the tournament as a player. And that is where the problem lies.
Gyan’s retirement announcement should have been a celebration but the content of his statement has managed to take attention from his own self to another and left his legacy to the background. We should all have been hailing his career this morning.
In all this there’s blame to be apportioned and Gyan takes 98% of it.
To begin with, I must say that Gyan and his team did not thoroughly think through the content of the announcement. A simple announcement would have sufficed. He only needed to leave the speculation to the media and the public. Now he will be remembered as the guy who retired because he didn’t want to relinquish his captaincy everytime the question of our greatest striker’s retirement comes up. That was a big shot in the foot of Gyan and his team.
Also, in this, all he has done is to antagonize a team he claimed to want the best interests at heart. He has made the technical team the look like villains and the next captain, especially if Andre Ayew, already unpopular. All this also culminates into pressure on the team heading into the tournament.
The technical team, on the other hand, takes the remaining 2% of this blame. They are not there to please anybody. Regardless of Gyan’s stature, they didn’t owe him or anyone else in the team any explanation for whatever decision they took. In as much as it was an attempt in good faith to have Gyan announce it himself, it was totally unnecessary. You appointed him and you could take it from him at any time you want and still choose to take him to a tournament.
All the debacle, as you see, is needless and completely avoidable but we are in Ghana and we love drama, so drama it is!
By Frank Entsie
The writer is a sports journalist.
Email: jake.dunce21@gmail.com