Former Black Stars captain, Asamoah Gyan, has revealed that James Kwasi Appiah apologised after stripping him of the Black Stars captaincy.
Ahead of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations [AFCON] in Egypt, Appiah, who was then the head coach, named Andre Ayew as the new skipper for the side and Gyan was handed general captain for the team.
The 37-year-old subsequently announced his decision to retire from the national team following the decision by Kwesi Appiah but made a U-turn following Presidential intervention.
Speaking in an interview, Gyan revealed that he didn’t agree with the timing of Appiah’s decision, saying the coach apologised to him afterwards.
“Of course, I didn’t agree but if you think you’ve taken the decision why do you call me to apologise? My team met his team at Holiday Inn,” Gyan told Dan Kwaku Yeboah on YouTube.
“They spoke to me and apologised and told me not to be angry. Why do you have to apologise if it’s your decision? If it’s the right decision, why do you call my team and sit down to talk about it? Why? If it’s because of the relationship we had then I understand.”
He added: “He gave me the captain. He flew to Dubai but when he wanted to take the armband back, it wasn’t the right time. He had to give me a tangible reason. Somebody was the captain before me and I don’t have a problem with coach but I felt the timing was wrong. And also the explanation for the reason why he did that wasn’t coherent. That was why I got angry.
“I was angry and suggested that he leaves me out of the squad so that he could work with a sound mind. He told me I should rethink it because I’m in his plans.”
Gyan served as Ghana’s captain for nearly five years. He is currently without a club but insists he hasn’t retired yet.
The former Sunderland forward remains the country’s all-time leading goal scorer with 51 goals.