*BY: DENNIS NARTERH ADZIGODI.*

* *

How arrogant and disrespectful was Asamoah Gyan whose selfish interest caused the Black stars failure to lift the Africa Cup of Nations for the fifth time decides not to travel with the team to Ghana after he led Ghana down for the third time? And who will argue that Gyan should not be blamed for the Black Stars failure to lift the cup?

First was in South Africa 2010 FIFA World cup against Uruguay, second was the silly red card he picked up against Sudan at Kumasi in the CAN 2012 qualifiers and the third was that poor penalty Kick he took at the tournament against Zambia. Did I hear Black Stars assistant Coach Kwasi Appiah saying Gyan still remains Ghana’s best penalty kicker? I don’t blame him because scenes from the Nations’ Cup clearly showed nobody takes instructions from him especially Plavi.

Asamoah Gyan and Didier Drogba (the two West African strikers) were just too selfish. Both players were only struggling to get more goals to win the goal king award which is more of an individual award ahead of the trophy which is a national pride. Gyan who missed a crucial God’s gifted penalty kick at the last World Cup in South Africa should have thought twice about his decision to take that penalty against Zambia. But even on that day, visuals clearly showed Andrew Ayew asking Gyan if he (Ayew) should take the penalty, something the same Gyan denied former Stars’ captain Stephen ‘Tornado’ Appiah at the 2010 World Cup which was eventually part of Appiah’s decision to retire prematurely from the National Team.

Even look at what he did to his former club, Sunderland. At a time the club needed him most he shunned them for a lower ranked UAE league side but rich AL Ain, always self-interest first. Man! That guy is just greedy and selfish. No wonder he was rated the world’s greediest player for 2011.

His actions clearly showed that he did not even deserve the Black Stars third captain’s role and should therefore not be given the chance to wear the Stars captain armband again. He is one player who sees it as not worth dying for his country. How can a player who broke so many hearts fail to travel with the team back to Ghana to even show a sign of concern and respect for the nation? I don’t blame him too much but sometime the people who advise these players on certain decisions they take, and defend and attacks articles against their players. That is why Didier Drogba will always remain a cult figure and a hero in Ivory Coast, that guy was just a class of himself.

Didier has let his country down but his actions still makes him a hero, I salute you Didier.

I think Andrew Dede Ayew and Anthony Annan deserve the captaincy role more than Asamoah. Andre Ayew is just like Christopher Katongo and former Stars skipper Stephen Appiah who were always hungry for success, a strong hallmark of every great Captain, something Asamoah totally lacks as an aspiring substantive Black Stars captain.

No one should get me wrong, am only expressing my views. I have nothing against Gyan personally, but am against his attitude and feelings towards Ghanaians as a whole. After all, after the 2010 World Cup penalty miss when he came together with the team to Ghana, all Ghanaians gave him together with team a heroic welcome. I thank God Ghanaians failed to go to the airport to welcome the team this time around, but with due respect and sincere condolence to Anthony Annan who lost his mum during the Nations’ Cup but has remained committed to the team and played in all the remaining matches, indeed a sign of committed and a dedicated player.

Ghanaians thank you very much, you’ve really proved that no individual player whom the nation have spent so much millions to get him to where he is today won’t just play with your heart like that and show no sign of respect for you. I’m now tired with the proverb “he who fetches water breaks the pot.” So should Gyan keep on breaking all the pots till we have no pot left in Ghana?

How many penalty kicks has he missed at club level? Does it mean that a player of his calibre cannot score from a penalty spot at important stages of tournaments?

If Asamoah should resign after this Nations Cup it will a big blow now but at least it will also prevent the frequent heart breaks he causes for the entire nation. Gyan must now take a little break from the Black Stars and come back strong in 2013 after which he will strongly come to compete for his position in the national team.

It is also time for some of the senior players to respectfully bow out of the national team before they are forced to quit. John Mensah and John Painstil for now should realise their fitness level is under suspect and its time they bid farewell to the Stars before they lose respect. Look at John Mensah, he just always walked off at a slight tackle on him, a captain who is not ready to die for his motherland. But look at that Zambia dwho twisted his leg in the first ten minutes in their match against Ivory Coast, he came back willing to die for his country before he was eventually stretched off the pitch and kept on weeping throughout the entire match, a great sign of a player who is ready to die for his country. Something apart from few, Ghanaian players lack.

For Agyemang Badu, he was a bomb in this tournament and I think he together with Dede and Jordan Ayew will be the next biggest stars to take Ghana to higher heights.

And for Goalkeeper Larsen Adam Kwarasey, whose aerial ability was full of question marks throughout the entire tournament, needs a lot of advice and coaching from the goalkeeper trainers. Edward Ansah should have done better especially as regards the keepers we sent to this tournament. It is very obvious we missed Richard Kingson “Olele”. Like our assistant coach Kwasi Appiah, I think Plavi did not give them room to operate nor takes advice from them.

For the coach, Goran “Plavi” Stevanovic whose tactics were under question, he needs to be fired immediately. How can he send an unfit player (Daniel Opare) to warm up the bench throughout the entire tournament and Prince Tagoe who was the flop of the 2012 Cup of Nations to the tournament ahead of the leading goal king of the Ghana GLO premier league Emmanuel Baffour. The coach was as bad as the Tagoe himself who has failed to impress Ghanaians on all the occasions he was brought on as a substitute for the Ghana’s arrogant lone striker, Asamoah ‘Baby Jet’ Gyan.

He just kept on changing our team in every single match in the tournament, how can you do that in a major tournament? He has no excuse to give, he got it all wrong. Simply put he did not even know his players.

But you see Coach Plavi won’t go, because unlike his predecessors Ratomr Dujkovic and Milovan Rajavac who were very impressive with the Stars and were sought after by numerous clubs, Plavi has totally failed to impress and will therefore not be able to land any good contract anywhere. And have you heard him saying his contract terms were to get the Stars to the semis? With whom? I don’t blame him too; I will only blame some people at the Ghana Football Association whom he claimed signed those contract terms with him. People always talks about the Alfred Woyome Saga but there are more people elsewhere who are always conniving with other people to steal and dupe the state’s monies.

For me I think it’s time Ghana as a nation takes a proper look at a very sustainable and progressive youth programme for the young football talents whom for the past years have shown class in the youth organised tournaments. Players like Dominic Adiyiah, Sadik Adams, Ransford Osei, Sadat Bukari, Tourik Djibril, Mandela Ocansey and many others will quickly come to mind. Why can’t the nation give these boys a chance to gradually progress into the national team rather than relying on a lone striker who will not be bothered and concerned about the feelings of over 21 million Ghanaians.

Simply, I think Gyan should have apologised to all Ghanaians or even come to Ghana with the team to show his concern for the nation. But I was not surprised because he is one person who puts fame and money first before any other thing. Just look at Didier Drogba who is playing with one of the best clubs in the world (Chelsea), winner of an Africa Best Player accolade has travelled to Ivory Coast with the team after his penalty miss in the finals which has woefully caused Ivory Coast to lose their best opportunity of winning the Nations’ Cup for the second time.

Three things let Ghana down at this tournament; greed, arrogance and selfishness as well as poor coaching tactics, and lack of commitment and fighting spirit.

My Ratings are as follows:

John Boye …………………….. 9/10

Andrew Dede Ayew …………. 8/10

Agyemang Badu ……………….. 7/10

Anthony Anang ……………….. 7/10

Jordan Ayew …………………… 6/10

Kwajo Asamoah ……………… 6/10

Sulley Muntari …………………… 5/10

Jonathan Mensah …………….. 5/10

Isaac Vorsah …………………… 5/10

Samuel Inkoom ……………… 4/10

John Painstil ………………… 4/10

Masawudu Alhassan ………. 4/10

John Mensah ……………….. 4/10

Derek Boateng ………….. 3/10

Lee Addy ………………………… 3/1

Asamoah Gyan ……………… 2/10

Adam Kwarasey ……………. 2/10

Prince Tagoe ……………….. 0/10

Coach Goran Plavi ………. 0/10

This is my opinion. Don’t get me wrong.