Asamoah Gyan says he wished he could go back and redeem himself after he missed a penalty against Uruguay during the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
Having impressed in the group phase and the Round of 16, the Black Stars faced the South American side in their quarterfinal game.
Ghana was awarded a penalty after Luiz Suarez prevented Dominic Adiyah’s later header in the dire minute of the game.
However, the former Sunderland striker was given the opportunity to make Ghana the first African side to reach the semifinal but he was denied by the crossbar from the spot kick despite sending the goalkeeper the wrong way.
Ghana eventually lost in the ensuing penalty shootout, missing out on a place in the semifinal when the spot was within their grasp.
Gyan, who is the country’s all-time leading goalscorer remembered the painful incident, as quoted by Eurofoot, saying “Till today, any time I’m alone, it still haunts me… sometimes I feel like the world should go back again so I can redeem myself. But I know this is something that will haunt me for the rest of my life. I accept that because there is nothing I can do about it. I went there to save my country, but I ended up being the villain, which I accept because I know how people feel.”
According to him, the aftermath of the incident was a disaster for him.
“It was a disaster. It was crazy. I couldn’t sleep the whole night because I was crying the whole night until morning… All I was telling myself was to get another chance because I knew I could redeem myself even if not football, something else. But even if I don’t, my kids will do it one day,” he added.
Gyan, who is Africa’s top scorer in World Cup history with six goals in 11 appearances across three tournaments, had a stellar career for the Black Stars of Ghana.
After 20 years of dedicated service to club and country, Asamoah Gyan announced his retirement in June 2023 at age 37, with 51 goals in 109 caps for the Black Stars.
READ ALSO
