I took criticism personal – Gyan opens up on he handled attacks as Black Stars player

Former Black Stars captain, Asamoah Gyan has shared that he took attacks and criticisms personally during his playing days with the Black Stars.

According to the former Sunderland and Liberty Professionals attacker, he did not take criticisms that came off as abusive lightly.

Speaking at the Afro Sports Summit in Accra on July 18, Gyan said he put himself in the position to be criticised when things did not go as expected because he showed up in games.

“It got to a point where I was very consistent in scoring goals. So, I put myself in that position for Ghanaians to trust me. Whenever things didn’t go well, they would be on you as if you were the only guy expected to deliver. And that day you would become the worst player. When I turned things around, I became the best player.”

The 38-year-old said he could tolerate most of the backlash but drew the line whenever it became abusive.

“Any time I made a mistake, and of course, the bashing and everything came, sometimes I always had fun with it. But where I took it personally was when the abuse became personal. That’s when there was no factual criticism, and that’s when I got a bit offended.”

Gyan, who is the country’s all-time leading goal-scorer was taken to the cleaners after missing a last-minute penalty in the 2010 World Cup quarter-final against Uruguay, denying Ghana a historic semi-final berth.

He received a lot of backlash, which extended into threats against his family. He then decided not to take a penalty for Ghana anymore.

Asamoah Gyan, who also remains Africa’s top goalscorer in the World Cup retired from football in 2023. His last appearance for the Black Stars dates back to 2019 during the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) tournament in Egypt.