Ghana’s leading all-time goal scorer and captain of the Black Stars, Asamoah Gyan, has announced his retirement from the senior national team.
The announcement has come at a time the country was preparing for next month’s African Nations Cup slated for Egypt.
Until his unexpected decision to retire, fans of the Black Stars were expecting the 33-year old to lead the team to a successful tournament.
In a statement on Monday, Gyan stated clearly that he would not be a member of the team that will participate in the AFCON 2019.
He made his international debut for Ghana in 2003 and has since been a major component of the national team, scoring some important goals and missing a crucial world cup penalty in 2010, when Ghana faced Uruguay in the quarter-final in South Africa.
“Upon consultation with my family and team, and as an active footballer and captain of the national team, if the decision of the coach is to give captaincy of the tournament to another player while I am named in the team for the tournament, I wish to rescue myself from the tournament”, the statement said.
He retired as the nation’s all-time scorer with 51 goals in 106 appearances.
He has participated in six AFCON tournaments, and retires as the nation’s leading scorer in the tourney with seven goals.
He scored Ghana’s first World Cup goal under two minutes and was regarded as the fastest goal of the tournament in 2006.
DAP/as/APA