Former Black Stars skipper, Asamoah Gyan, has revealed he scored 20 penalties in training a day before missing his crucial penalty against Uruguay.
Ghana was on the verge of becoming the first African team to reach the semi-finals of the World Cup during the 2010 Mundial in South Africa before losing on penalties to the South American side following a 1-1 draw in regulation and extra time.
The West African side had a penalty in the final seconds of extra time after Luis Suarez blocked Dominic Adiyah’s goal-bound header.
Suarez was sent off but Gyan missed from the spot, with Uruguay going on to record a 4-2 victory in the shootout.
“A day before the Uruguay game, I shot 20 penalties against our goalkeeper at training,” Gyan told FIFA in an interview.
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“I scored all 20. I was going to my left side of the goalkeeper and I saw him and then I saw him going to my right when I was shooting the ball.
“He feinted me and then he went to where the ball was going. I didn’t know how the ball went up. Technically there was something wrong. I didn’t have the right technique.”
Over 12 years after that incident, Gyan believes he let down his country and the whole continent by missing that penalty.
“I let the whole continent, my country down. Anytime I’m alone in a room, it just pops up in my mind. I’m going to live with it for the rest of my life,” he added.
Meanwhile, Ghana will face the two-time world champions in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.