Asamoah Gyan has revealed that coach Kwasi Appiah apologised after stripping him of the Black Stars captaincy.
Gyan served as Ghana’s captain for nearly five years but saw the armband taken away from him just weeks before the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).
Appiah, who was the national team coach at the time, made the veteran striker the general captain while picking Andre Ayew as his new skipper.
The decision did not enthuse Gyan, who announced his retirement from the national team, but made a U-turn following President Akufo-Addo’s intervention.
The 37-year-old has now disclosed that he didn’t agree with the timing of Appiah’s decision, saying the coach apologised to him after 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 told home 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 is currently without a club but insists he hasn’t retired yet.
Pulse