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Former Black Stars skipper, Asamoah Gyan has explained his outrage at ex-Black Stars coach James Kwasi Appiah when the manager stripped him of the captaincy in 2019.
Gyan, who had held the armband for 7 years- from 2013 to 2019, was made to hand it over to Dede as Kwasi Appiah restructured the team’s leadership a few weeks before the start of the 2019 AFCON.
Kwasi Appiah explaining his decision in a recent interview said it was about doing the right thing, although Gyan did not take it lightly.
In response to the coach’s assertion, Gyan stated that he did not agree with the decision and believes Kwasi Appiah should not have apologised if he made the right decision.
“Of course, I didn’t agree but if you think you’ve taken the decision why do you call me to apologise? My team met his team at Holiday Inn. They spoke to me and apologised and told me not to be angry. Why do you have to apologise if it’s your decision? If it’s the right decision, why do you call my team and sit down to talk about it? Why? If it’s because of the relationship we had then I understand,” he told Dan Kweku Yeboah.
The former Sunderland striker further explained that he got angry because the timing was wrong and the explanation given was incoherent.
“He gave me the captain. He flew to Dubai but when he wanted to take the armband back, it wasn’t the right time. He had to give me a tangible reason. Somebody was the captain before me and I don’t have a problem with coach (Kwasi Appiah) but I felt the timing was wrong. And also the explanation for the reason why he did that wasn’t coherent. That was why I got angry.”
Gyan revealed that he suggested being left out of the squad but Kwasi Appiah declined.
“I told home I was angry and suggested that he leaves me out of the squad so that he could work with a sound mind. He told me I should rethink it because I’m in his plans.”
The Black Stars’ all-time top scorer featured in one game at the 2019 AFCON when he came on to force an own goal against Tunisia in the round of 16.
The game travelled to penalties with Ghana losing 4-5 on penalties. Asamoah Gyan has not been featured for the Black Stars since.
