Ghana and NorthEast United forward Asamoah Gyan has not forgotten about the penalty miss in the 2010 World Cup quarter-finals against Uruguay, asserting it will haunt him for the rest of his life.
The Black Stars made it to their first-ever quarter-final in just their second appearance at the World Cup.
They were poised to become the first African country to progress to the semi-finals when Ghana were given a penalty towards the end of extra-time. This was after Luiz Suarez was given a red card for using his hand to stop the ball from going in.
Suarez was given a straight red card and Gyan missed the preceding penalty by playing it high into the stands, and it’s been a bitter pill to swallow ever since.
“Till today, any time alone, it still haunts me,” the 34-year old told TV3 Ghana.
“Sometimes I feel like the world should go back again so I can redeem myself, but I know this is something that will haunt me for the rest of my life.
“I accept that because there is nothing I can do about it. I went there to save my country, but I ended up being the villain, which I accept because I know how people feel.
“It was a disaster. It was crazy. I was also calm because I couldn’t sleep the whole night because I was crying the whole night until morning so I was somehow calm because I couldn’t cry anymore.
“All I was telling myself was to get another chance because I knew I could redeem myself even if not football, something else. But even if I don’t, my kids will do it one day.”
Gyan is Ghana’s leading marksman of all time with 51 goals from 109 caps.
Goal