A former Executive Council of the Ghana Football Association [GFA], Wilfred Osei Kwaku Palmer, has kicked against the inclusion of Asamoah Gyan in the Black Stars squad ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
The former Ghana captain, speaking in an interview with the BBC recently, hinted that he is aiming to play at the Mundial scheduled to be hosted in Qatar later this year.
Reacting to Gyan’s desire to make Black Stars return, Palmer warned against taking Gyan to the World Cup.
According to him, the former Sunderland star could disgrace himself at the Mundial considering his strength at the moment.
“Gyan is my brother, a friend and everything, I will tell him to leave the stage because he has paid his dues for Ghana. When he scored his 50th in Gabon I think he celebrated that goal in front of me and there was a reason why he did that because that was all that I wished for him to get his 50th goal,” the Tema Youth FC owner told Asempa FM in an interview.
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“He is one of the best players we’ve had, he has paid his dues so we should not push him to the World Cup to disgrace him. He played for Legon Cities and we all saw that the soul is willing but the body is weak.
“So, I will tell Gyan to allow us to go and do our business or he should go as an inspirer because he is a legend and that is what we lack in most of the tournaments, I have been to competitions several times (AFCON, World Cup) and what other countries do is, they bring their legends and are given special place because when the going gets tough, they will be there to support because of their experience but we are not celebrating our legends and that is the whole issue,” he added.
Asamoah Gyan remains the country’s all-time leading goalscorer with 51 goals having featured in 2006, 2010, and 2014 World Cup in Germany, South Africa, and Brazil respectively.
Ghana is housed in Group H alongside Portugal, South Korea, and Uruguay.
