“We all serve the living God but I will say, he is my second god because he has done everything for me,” those were the exact words Ghanaian striker Asamoah Gyan used in describing the influence of his brother Baffour Gyan on his career.
The brothers, Baffour and Asamoah Gyan played as attackers for the national team but it was the latter who had a sterling career becoming Ghana’s all-time top scorer with more than 50 goals, a feat that makes him the 3rd African and 52nd player in the world to score more than 50 international goals.
As the youngest player ever to score for Ghana, Gyan said his rise to stardom would have been impossible without the influence of his brother.
Asamoah Gyan likened his brother to a second god because he acted as a guardian angel, ensuring that he has a successful career devoid of mistakes he, Baffour committed in the past.
“We all serve the living God but I will say, he is my second god because he has done everything for me,” the former Sunderland player told Max TV.
“The mistakes he made in life, he made sure I didn’t go through them. He is like a guardian angel till now.” He added
Detailing the impact and influence of his brother on his career, Asamoah recalled that it was Baffour’s advice that succeeded in making him decide on schooling in Accra although he had different plans.
“He went to Adisadel College and I wanted to follow his footsteps when I completed JHS and I had to choose Adisadel College, so I chose all the Cape Coast schools,” Baby Jet said.
However, to his dismay, his brother advised him against his decision to stay in Accra in order to get scouted easily into the national team.
“Baffour said no. All my friends that were in Accra that I played with I saw them playing in the U-17 national team and I was at school,” Asamoah Gyan said reminiscing what his elder brother had told him.
He added that my brother “should have been in that team at that time, so he advised me not to go that far, I should be in Accra, so that was how I chose Accra Academy. My grade was okay so they spoke to the headmaster and he said okay because obviously I was a football player. So, he was the one guiding me in all these things and it really worked.
It was while Gyan was in school that he got spotted by Liberty Professionals where he worked hard to earn a call up to the national team at age 17, going ahead to have a successful career playing at two World Cup tournaments.
Source: Ghanaweb.com