Former Sports Minister Elvis Afriyie Ankrah has said that Asamoah Gyan’s desire to return to the Black Stars is entirely up to coach Otto Addo.
Gyan, who has been without a club for 11 months, is eyeing a spot in Ghana’s World Cup squad in Qatar later this year.
The 36-year-old hasn’t played for the Black Stars in three years and hasn’t played competitive football since his last match for former club Legon Cities in May 2021.
“It’s entirely up to the coach, he has to assess him, his physical fitness, mental fitness and match fitness because those are different levels. You have to be physically fit, your state of mind and then match fitness which also has to do with the track record watching you in real competitive matches or training sessions to see if you’re still sharp. So those are not decisions that I can just sit in my room and say yes or no. Those are decisions that those who are responsible have to do all the analysis and decide based on the facts and evidence, not on sentiments and emotions,” Afriyie Ankrah said on Luv FM.
“Also based on the team’s strategy, we are going into a World Cup and the technical people will have a strategy as to the kind of formation that they want to use. Whether they want to use an attacking predominant type of team, or midfield predominant because we have a lot of talents at that department of our team or defensive like the so-called one goal project type of thing. So again, all these are things that those who are responsible will have to make a firm decision on.”
Gyan has six goals at the World Cup, making him Africa’s leading scorer.
Ghana will face Portugal, South Korea and Uruguay in the group stage of the World Cup, which begins on November 20.
Source: 3news.com|Ghana