 Asamoah Gyan training with Rennes in 2008 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Asamoah Gyan | ||
| Date of birth | 22 November 1985 | ||
| Place of birth | Accra, Greater Accra, Ghana | ||
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[1] | ||
| Playing position | Striker | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Al Ain | ||
| Number | 3 | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 2003 | Liberty Professionals | 16 | (10) |
| 2003–2008 | Udinese | 39 | (11) |
| 2004–2006 | → Modena (loan) | 53 | (15) |
| 2008–2010 | Rennes | 48 | (14) |
| 2010–2012 | Sunderland | 34 | (10) |
| 2011–2012 | → Al Ain (loan) | 18 | (22) |
| 2012– | Al Ain | 48 | (53) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2003– | Ghana | 76 | (39) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 14:15, October 31, 2013 (EST).
† Appearances (Goals).
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 19:54, 14 August 2013 (UTC) | |||
Asamoah Gyan (pronounced [æsæˈmoʊˌɑː ˌdʒjɑːn], ə-sah-moh-ah j-yahn) (born 22 November 1985 inAccra) is a Ghanaian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Al Ain of the UAE Pro-League.
Gyan represented Ghana at the 2006 and 2010 FIFA World Cups, scoring three goals at the latter, and also missing a crucial penalty kick in the last minute of extra-time in a quarter-final defeat by Uruguay.
Club career
Udinese
Having signed for Udinese in 2003 from Ghanaian club Liberty Professionals located in Accra, Gyan spent two years on loan at Serie B club Modena to gain match experience. Following some excellent displays during the 2006 World Cup, he attracted interest from Russian club Lokomotiv Moscow. Gyan returned to Udinese at the start of 2006, but on 17 February 2007, Udinese pulled out of a deal to sell him in the January transfer window. The striker was on the verge of signing a 3-year deal with Russian Club Lokomotiv Moscow for US$10.5 million, the fourth largest transfer fee in Russian football history. "The striker Udinese targeted to replace me did not sign for them," Gyan told BBC Sport. "I've been told I will now have to stay in Italy for the rest of the season."[2]
On 10 August 2007, along with Fabio Quagliarella, Gyan signed an improved 5-year contract extension to stay at Udinese until 30 June 2012 as a reward for his fine form[3] in the 2007–08 pre-season.[4] "I have decided to stay here because it is one of the top leagues in the world," Asamoah said, "There is the possibility of me playing regular football here to make me a better player. "I am comfortable with the new deal and I know I can help Udinese achieve things for the future".[5] Gyan and Quagliarella marked their contract extensions with a brace each in Udinese's 7–0 friendly win later that evening.[6][7]
On 29 July 2007 following his impressive pre-season form, including a hat-trick[7][8] in a friendly againstSerie B outfit Spezia on 25 July, before Udinese sealed the long term deal.[9][10] Gyan scored 8 goals in 2006–07 to help the Stadio Friuli club finish in 10th place in Serie A.
Gyan was dogged by injury during the 2007–08 season and never appeared for Udinese again after January 2008, having played only 13 Serie A matches and scored 3 times that season.
Rennes
On 11 July 2008, Gyan was signed by French Ligue 1 Club Stade Rennais for 4 years on an €8 million transfer fee.[11][12] Gyan played 48 times for Rennes, scoring 14 goals. By the end of his stay at Rennes, he became a well known goal scoring figure, scoring 13 league goals in the 2009–10 season. However, Gyan only played three games in Ligue 1 the following season, taking his total appearances to 53, before he departed for Sunderland.
Sunderland
On 31 August 2010, Gyan signed for Premier League club Sunderland on a four-year deal for record £13 million.[13] Gyan was later given the squad number 33 shirt at Sunderland. He scored on his Sunderland debut against Wigan Athletic on 11 September after coming on as a substitute for Danny Welbeck. The match ended in a 1–1 draw with Antolín Alcaraz scoring Wigan's equaliser.[14] He marked his first start for Sunderland by netting their only goal in theirLeague Cup exit at the hands of West Ham United.[15] Gyan scored twice on his first Premier League start for the club in a 2–0 win against Stoke City on 6 November. His first goal came in the 9th minute when a Nedum Onuoha shot was parried by goalkeeper Asmir Begović, with Gyan on hand to tap home the rebound and his second came in the 86th minute, to secure a 2–0 victory for the Black Cats.[16] Three days later, he followed this up by scoring the equaliser against Tottenham at White Hart Lane in a 1–1 draw as Sunderland moved up to seventh in the table.[17] He also scored a goal in Sunderland's 3–0 victory atStamford Bridge against Chelsea.[18] Gyan scored Sunderland's third goal in their 3–0 victory over Blackburn Rovers on 1 January 2011.[19] On 16 January 2011, he started against local rivals Newcastle United, scoring a 94th minute equaliser, preventing Newcastle gaining their second win of the season against Sunderland.[20] Gyan added to his impressive goalscoring tally with a goal away at Stoke City on 5 February 2011. He scored an 11th minute goal against Tottenham on 12 February 2011. Gyan's next goal came on 23 April as Sunderland beat Wigan Athletic 4–2, a match which ended prematurely for the forward as he was substituted following a hamstring injury which is expected to see him miss the remainder of the season.[21] Gyan did recover in time to feature in Sunderland's last game of the season at West Ham but didn't add to his tally finishing his first season in English football with 10 league goals. Gyan took thesquad number 3 shirt for the 2011–12 season, the same squad number he wears for Ghana.
Al Ain
On 10 September 2011, it was confirmed on the Sunderland website that Gyan would leave on a season long loan to club Al Ain FC.[22] Amid speculation of a fee of up to £6 million being paid for the loan period, with Gyan receiving up to four times his previous salary,[23] Chairman Niall Quinn emphasised the financial benefits of the deal for both Sunderland and the player. The Ghanaian finished the season with Al Ain by helping them capture their tenth league success and was the top goalscorer in the season with 22 league goals.
When Martin O'Neill became manager of Sunderland on 8 December 2011, he considered the possibility of recalling Gyan from his loan spell away from the club.[24]
Gyan signed a five-year contract with Al Ain on 6 July 2012 worth in excess £6.4million. The contract would see Gyan earning £140,000+ a week after taxes for five years, starting from July 2012.[25] He retained the top goalscorer in the UAE league in the 2013 season and as well helped his team retain the league title.
International career
Gyan made his international debut at the age of 17. Gyan scored on his senior International debut[26] for Ghana against Somalia on 19 November 2003 in the 90th minute, he came on for Isaac Boakye in the 62nd minute in a 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifier, three days before he turned 18 years; helping Ghana to win that game, and making him the youngest ever player to score for Ghana. He scored four times in seven matches during that successful World Cup qualifying campaign. He was part of the 2004 Ghana Olympic squad, who exited in the first round, having finished in third place in Group B.
He also scored the fastest goal of the 2006 World Cup after 68 seconds. The strike was also Ghana's first ever goal in the World Cup, coming in the game against the Czech Republic on 17 June at the RheinEnergieStadion in Cologne,Germany, which set the Black Stars on their way to a 2–0 victory. He missed a penalty later in the game, and received a yellow card ruling him out of the final group game for trying to take the penalty too early. In Ghana's defeat[27] to Brazilin the Round of 16, he was sent off in the 81st minute after collecting his second booking of the match (for diving).
On 24 January 2008 during the Africa Cup of Nations Gyan and his brother Baffour decided to walk out on the Black Stars following criticism after their unconvincing 1–0 win[28] over Namibia. The media learnt the brothers had packed their bags and were ready to leave the team hotel but were persuaded to stay by team-mates.[29] In the 2010 African Cup of Nations, Asamoah Gyan helped a Ghana team, ravaged by injuries to the finals. Gyan scored three out of the four Ghana goals during the tournament.
Gyan scored with a penalty in the 85th minute of Ghana's first match of the 2010 World Cup against Serbia, in a 1–0 win. He hit the post in the 92nd minute before being substituted to a standing ovation just before the final whistle.[30] In Ghana's second game, he scored a penalty in the 26th minute to level the scores and earn his team a 1–1 draw againstAustralia.[31]
In the round of 16 match against the USA, he scored a goal in extra time allowing Ghana to win by a score of 2 to 1 and hence become the third African team in history to qualify to the tournament's quarter final, after Cameroon andSenegal.[32] In the quarter final tie against Uruguay, following Luis Suárez's handling of the ball on the goal-line, he missed a penalty kick with no time remaining at end of extra time, hitting the crossbar and necessitating a penalty shootout to decide the game. He converted his penalty in the subsequent penalty shootout, but Uruguay went on to win the shootout 4–2.[33]
Gyan scored Ghana's equaliser against England at Wembley in the international friendly on 29 March 2011.
For the second time in his career, Gyan missed a crucial penalty kick in a major tournament when he missed a penalty kick in the 2012 African Cup of Nations semi-final. Ghana went on to lose 1–0. After missing that penalty kick, Gyan decided to take an "indefinite break" from International football.[34] On 8 May 2012, he announced his return to the Black Stars team.[35][36] He was announced at the team captain of the Black Stars.
