Former Black Stars captain Stephen Appiah believes that current team captain Asamoah Gyan should have taken part in the penalty shootout during Ghana’s semifinal against Burkina Faso.
He told GTV’s Stage Africa host Jerry Kwame Ayensu that even though he understands Gyan’s reasons for not wanting to take penalties for the Black Stars, the set of circumstances demanded a show of leadership from him.
“I understand Gyan’s reasons for not wanting to take a penalty and I don’t want to go into that, but in such circumstances, leadership by example is needed and he should have taken the first penalty to boost the team’s confidence. If I was in his shoes, I would have taken a penalty.”
Appiah added that the set of players who took Ghana’s penalty kicks did not include the best penalty takers in the squad, nothing that some might have had stage fright. “I know most of the boys and those who are good penalty takers were not amongst those who took the kicks.
Sometimes nervousness comes in and the players are nervous about taking a penalty in case they miss.” Appiah commended the Black Stars team for its performance against Burkina Faso, even though he felt that Burkina Faso wanted the victory more. “It was not a bad performance by us at all. The boys did well, but Burkina Faso was the better side. They were hungrier and wanted the victory more than us.”
