Thanks for honouring me while I am alive - Dong Bortey tells Asamoah Gyan

Accra Hearts of Oak legend, Bernard Dong Bortey, has heaped praises on former Black Stars skipper, Asamoah Gyan, for a recent heartfelt testimony Gyan shared about him.

Gyan shared a touching story of how Dong Bortey gifted him a bundle of cash when he had nothing.

Dong Bortey, who chanced upon the interview, expressed his appreciation to the Black Stars' top-scorer for not forgetting such a fond memory.

"@ASAMOAH_GYAN3, I saw this video just this morning, and the feeling felt like just yesterday. Thanks for not letting me leave this earth before coming to speak about me this way. I love you, bro, and thanks for everything," Dong Bortey said in a tweet.

In the said interview, Gyan spoke about how Dong Bortey supported him financially years ago when he was a young player. “He [Dong Bortey] has helped me.

“He is a free-spirited guy. Those days when Dong Bortey was on top of his game, I remember we were in camp when he came with a backpack full of money,” Gyan told Dan Kwaku Yeboah in the interview.

“We were mates, but we were not that close, so he opened his bag and asked me to take the amount I wanted. I was hugely surprised.”

According to Gyan, he promised to pay Dong Bortey back when he also made it in life. He added that the Hearts of Oak legend is one person who has a big heart.

“I took out a bundle of cash and I told him the day I will also make a lot of money, I will also repay him for his good deeds.

@ASAMOAH_GYAN3 I saw this video just this morning and the feeling felt like just yesterday..thanks for not letting me leave this earth before coming to speak about me this way.. I love U bro and thanks for everything pic.twitter.com/zOZMw1ANGR

— Bernard Dong Bortey (@BorteyOfficial) January 23, 2023

“He is someone who can give you a hundred million, if even that is his last money on him. I’m a bit emotional… people don’t really know him, but he does things from his heart,” Gyan said.

“He was supposed to be up there, but things happen in life. People don’t know about my relationship with him, but once in a while, we talk. He is a good guy,” he added.

Dong Bortey, a four-time Ghana Premier League winner, is currently Accra Hearts of Oak’s Under-14 development coach.

JNA/SARA