Ghana’s Atsu calls on Black Stars to honour Gyan’s ‘last wish’ by including him in World Cup squad

The winger is keen to see the legendary forward return to the national team for the global tournament in Qatar after expressing his desire to do so.

Ghana winger Christian Atsu wants the country to honour Asamoh Gyan’s ‘last wish’ by including him in the Blacks Stars squad for the World Cup.

Gyan has expressed his desire for ‘one last dance’ with the national team, saying he still feels capable of doing the job and Atsu, who played with him at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, feels the country should give him an opportunity.

“Honour @ASAMOAH_GYAN3 with his last wish,” Atsu said on social media.

Gyan, who is the top African scorer in the history of the World Cup with six goals, feels he could emulate Cameroon legend Roger Milla, who came from retirement to represent the Indomitable Lions at the 1994 edition.

“Anything can happen, it has happened before back in 1994 when Roger Milla came back from retirement to play in the World Cup,” Gyan said on Tuesday.

“But I haven’t retired yet, I haven’t announced my retirement, I have been out for almost two years now due to injuries and my body shutting down.

“I just need to get my body back in shape, so I have started training of course and I’ll see how my body reacts to playing competitive football. Talent-wise, everything is there already, so I just have to prepare physically and then we’ll see what happens.”

If he gets his wish, the 2022 World Cup will be Gyan’s fourth, having featured in the 2006, 2010 and 2014 tournaments.

Gyan scored Ghana’s first ever World Cup goal in the 2006 edition in Germany during their opening group match against the Czech Republic before netting thrice in the 2010 tournament in South Africa when the Black Stars reached the quarter-final.

He scored two goals in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, the first coming in a 2-2 draw with Germany, before netting as Ghana lost 2-1 to Portugal to exit the tournament at the group stage.

The 36-year-old is remembered for his missed penalty in extra-time against Uruguay in the quarter-final of the 2010 tournament and he has expressed a desire for revenge given Ghana will meet the Uruguayans in their group in Qatar, alongside Portugal and South Korea.

“When the draw was made and they [Ghanaians] saw Uruguay in Ghana’s group, the only thing that came into mind was revenge. Ghanaians want revenge,” he said.

Baby Jet, as he is famously known in the West African nation, is Ghana’s leading scorer with 51 goals from 109 caps, and has played for Udinese, Rennes, Sunderland, Shanghai SIPG as well as Al Ain in the United Arab Emirates.

(goal.com)

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