Cristiano Ronaldo may have grabbed headlines with a hat-trick as Portugal drew 3-3 with Spain in a pulsating World Cup encounter on Friday but Black Stars striker Asamoah Gyan, who is not even at the tournament has garnered significant support after a gaffe sought to write him out of the history books.
After the game, Ronaldo was wrongly touted as the first player in history to score at eight successive major tournaments.
Football data experts Opta Joe, were one of the first to put out the stat which was widely circulated on social media, acknowledging the supposed milestone by Ronaldo following his first goal on Friday.
But this might have proven to be erroneous as Africa’s top scorer at the World Cup had set that record at the 2015 African Nations Cup.
Ghanaian journalist, Michael Oti Adjei who first noted this, tweeted that Gyan had actually scored in nine successive major international tournaments, one more than the Portuguese star.
A number of Ghanaians, and Africans, in general, soon leapt to the defence of Gyan, with many suggesting that the apparent oversight was a sign of the disregard for Africa.
This Asamoah Gyan record in successive international tournaments oversight another example of how copy and paste journalism is thriving.
Once one account said it was Ronaldo, major media houses just lapped it up. Simple#WorldCup
— Michael Oti Adjei (@OtiAdjei) June 16, 2018
Here is an overview of @Cristiano and @ASAMOAH_GYAN3’s goals at major tournaments. #Ronaldo WASN’T the first to score in nine successive tournaments, Gyan was!
Disregarding AFCON, Africa’s continental championship, is like disregarding the Euro or Copa America 🤔 pic.twitter.com/36yCKmo9jV
— David Kappel (@kappilinho) June 16, 2018
Cristiano Ronaldo Becomes Only The Second Player To Score In Eight Successive Major Tournaments After Asamoah Gyan’s Nine – 442 Ghana https://t.co/8X8qqqDgnJ
— Sheikh Tophic Sienu (@DeSheikh1) June 16, 2018
Asamoah Gyan is the first player to score in eight/nine consecutive major international tournaments
2006 FIFA World Cup
2008 AFCON
2010 AFCON
2010 FIFA World Cup
2012 AFCON
2013 AFCON
2014 FIFA World Cup
2015 AFCON
2017 AFCONCristiano Ronaldo is the second player to score in 8
— OKYERE KWAME TAWIAH (@oktranking) June 15, 2018
No it is because African’s don’t keep records and hail our own.. It took Ronaldo’s records to remind us of Asamoah Gyan who did it way back in 2017.. We need to step up with ohr record keeping.
— back-to-back-to-back (@QuequSefa) June 16, 2018
He has scored at three World Cups and six African Nations Cup tournaments.
Gyan, who plays for Kayserispor in Turkey, commented on this on Twitter saying: “People disregard my achievements in the World Cup history but I want the whole world to know that I have not been given the fair shake but records will remain forever.”
People disregard my achievements in the World Cup history but I want the whole world to know that I have not been given the fair shake but records will remain forever 🙏🙏
— ASAMOAH GYAN (@ASAMOAH_GYAN3) June 15, 2018
His first goal at a major tournament against Czech Republic at the 2006 World Cup, before following that up with the first goal of the AFCON 2008, which Ghana hosted.
He scored three more goals followed at AFCON 2010, including the headed winner against Nigeria in the semifinals.
Gyan probably peaked at the World Cup in 2010, with three goals, and was famously denied a pivotal fourth under heartbreaking circumstances against Uruguay, that would have sent Ghana to the semi-finals.
He then scored a goal apiece in the next two AFCON tournaments as well two more, against Germany and then Portugal, at the World Cup in 2014.
At the 2017 AFCON, Gyan scored Ghana’s only goal in the 1-0 victory over Mali in the Black Stars’ second group game