Asamoah Gyan still admits his missed penalty against Uruguay in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa let Ghana down.
The striker says he still feels the pain whenever he recalls the quarter-finals match. The Black Stars had the chance to make history by becoming the first African team to reach the World Cup semi-finals.
Ghana had a free kick in the final minute of extra time, with the score tied at 1-1. A cross from Joseph Paintsil caused a commotion in the Uruguay box, and a goal-bound header from Dominic Adiyiah was illegally stopped on the line by Luis Suarez.
The former Barcelona star deliberately blocked the ball with his hand, resulting in a penalty for Ghana, which Gyan squandered.
Gyan was Ghana’s best player and exuded confidence. He came into the match having scored three goals, two penalties, and one stunning goal in the previous round against the United States. He was the last person Ghanaians expected to miss a crucial penalty, but he did and, according to him, he regrets it.
“A day before the Uruguay game I shot 20 penalties against our goalkeeper at training, I scored all 20,” Gyan told FIFA.
“I was going to my left side of the goalkeeper, I saw him going to the left. And then I saw him going to my right where I was shooting the ball. He feinted me and then went to where the ball went. I didn’t know how the ball went up. Technically there was something wrong. I didn’t have the right technique.”
“I had to cry because I felt like I came from hero to zero. I let the whole continent, my country down. Anytime I’m in a room it just pops up in my mind. I’m going to live it with for the rest of my life,” he concluded.
🇬🇭 "I let the whole continent, my country down"
— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) November 1, 2022
That #FIFAWorldCup moment against Uruguay still haunts @ASAMOAH_GYAN3 to this day
Gyan has six World Cup goals, making him Africa’s all-time leading scorer in the competition’s history.
Source: 3News.com|Ghana
