Asamoah Gyan ( ; born 22 November 1985) is a Ghanaian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugb ...

who last played as a striker for Legon Cities FC and is the former

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

of the Ghanaian national team. Gyan began his career in 2003 with

Ghanaian Premier League The is the top professional association football division of the football league system in Ghana. Officially formed in 1956 to replace a previous league incarnation, the Gold Coast Club Competition (which began in 1933 and ended in 1953–54), ...

club Liberty Professionals scoring ten goals in sixteen matches then spent three seasons with

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Cop ...

club Udinese via two seasons

loan In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that ...

Modena Modena (, , ; egl, label= Modenese, Mòdna ; ett, Mutna; la, Mutina) is a city and '' comune'' (municipality) on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. A town, and seat o ...

netting on fifteen occasions in 53 league matches and at Udinese where he scored 11 times in 39 league matches. In 2008, Gyan joined

Ligue 1 Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. ...

club

Rennes Rennes (; br, Roazhon ; Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France at the confluence of the Ille and the Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine departme ...

, netting fourteen times in forty-eight league matches during two seasons. In 2010, Gyan joined

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

club

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

, breaking the club's transfer record and netting on ten occasions in thirty-four Premier League matches during two seasons. In 2011, Gyan joined

Al Ain Al Ain ( ar, ٱلْعَيْن, , ) is a city in the western side of Tuwwam region and the seat of the administrative division of its namesake, Al Ain in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. It is bordered to the east by the Omani ...

of the UAE Pro-League on loan and became the league's top-goalscorer, scoring 24 times in 27 matches. In the following season, Gyan permanently joined Al Ain and once again became the league's top-goalscorer while he helped Al Ain retain the UAE Pro-League title, scoring an impressive 28 goals in 32 matches. In the 2013–14 season, Gyan scored on 44 occasions in 40 matches with Al Ain. Gyan is the all-time leading goalscorer of the Ghana national team, with 51 goals. He represented Ghana at the

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro votes to declare independence from Serbia; The 2006 ...

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

and

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wa ...

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament has ...

s. With 6 goals, he is the top African goalscorer in the history of the World Cup. Gyan has also represented Ghana at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

and in seven

Africa Cup of Nations The Africa Cup of Nations referred to as AFCON (french: Coupe d'Afrique des Nations, sometimes referred to as CAN, or TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons), and sometimes as African Cup of Nations, is the main internat ...

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the April ...

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

and

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

, helping them finish in third-place in 2008 and runner-up in 2010 and 2015. He launched his memoir, titled " LeGYANdry" at the Kempinski Gold Coast Hotel in Accra.

Club career

Liberty Professionals

Born in

Accra Accra (; tw, Nkran; dag, Ankara; gaa, Ga or ''Gaga'') is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , ...

, Gyan had his early education at Seven Great Princess Academy in

Dansoman Dansoman is a suburban town in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana, located near Accra and Takoradi district of the Accra Metropolitan Area. The town is known for being one of the largest estates in West Africa. History The town was founded by the ...

completing in 1999, and his secondary education at the

Accra Academy Accra Academy is a non-denominational day and boarding boys' school. It is located at Bubuashie near Kaneshie in the Greater Accra Region. The school was established as a private secondary educational institution in 1931 and gained the status o ...

from 1999 to 2002. Gyan started his career at Ghanaian club Liberty Professionals located in Accra. In his only top flight season with the club, he played 16 league matches in the

Ghana Premier League The is the top professional association football division of the football league system in Ghana. Officially formed in 1956 to replace a previous league incarnation, the Gold Coast Club Competition (which began in 1933 and ended in 1953–54), ...

and scored 10 goals. He ended the season as the league's third top goal scorer.

Udinese

Having signed for Udinese in 2003, he spent two years on

Serie B The Serie B (), currently named Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 season. It had been ...

club

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 A transfer window is the period during the year in which a football club can transfer players from other playing staff into their playing staff. Such a transfer is completed by registering the player into the new club through FIFA. "Transfer wi ...

. 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." On 10 August 2007, along with

Fabio Quagliarella Fabio Quagliarella (; born 31 January 1983) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Serie A club Sampdoria, whom he captains. Throughout his career, Quagliarella has played for eight different Italian clubs, winning th ...

, Gyan signed an improved five-year contract extension to stay at Udinese until 30 June 2012 as a reward for his fine form in the 2007–08 pre-season. "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". Gyan and Quagliarella marked their contract extensions with a brace each in Udinese's 7–0 friendly win later that evening. On 29 July 2007 following his impressive

pre-season In an organized sports league, a typical season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session: for example, in Major League Baseball the season lasts approximately from the last week of March to the last week of ...

form, including a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three w ...

in a friendly against

outfit

Spezia La Spezia (, or , ; in the local Spezzino dialect) is the capital city of the province of La Spezia and is located at the head of the Gulf of La Spezia in the southern part of the Liguria region of Italy. La Spezia is the second largest cit ...

on 25 July, before Udinese sealed the long-term deal. Gyan scored 8 goals in 2006–07 to help the Stadio Friuli club finish in 10th place in

. Gyan was dogged by injury during the 2007–08 season and never appeared for Udinese again after January 2008, having played only 13

matches and scored 3 times that season.

Rennes

On 11 July 2008, Gyan was signed by

Club

Stade Rennais Stade Rennais Football Club (), commonly referred to as Stade Rennais FC, Stade Rennais, Rennes, or simply SRFC, is a French professional football club based in Rennes, Brittany. They compete in Ligue 1, the top tier of French football, and pla ...

for 4 years on an

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists o ...

8 million transfer fee. 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

club

on a four-year deal for a club record £13 million. Gyan was later given the squad number 33 shirt at Sunderland. He scored on his Sunderland debut against

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, ...

on 11 September after coming on as a substitute for

Danny Welbeck Daniel Nii Tackie Mensah Welbeck (born 26 November 1990) is an English professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Brighton & Hove Albion. Welbeck made his way through the youth teams at Manchester United before making his senio ...

. The match ended in a 1–1 draw with Antolín Alcaraz scoring Wigan's equaliser. He marked his first start for Sunderland by netting their only goal in their

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

exit at the hands of

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...

. Gyan scored twice on his first Premier League start for the club in a 2–0 win against

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...

on 6 November. His first

goal A goal is an idea of the future or desired result that a person or a group of people envision, plan and commit to achieve. People endeavour to reach goals within a finite time by setting deadlines. A goal is roughly similar to a purpose or ...

came in the 9th minute when a Nedum Onuoha shot was parried by goalkeeper

Asmir Begović Asmir Begović (; born 20 June 1987) is a Bosnian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club Everton. Begović started his professional career with English club Portsmouth, signing for them in the summer of 2003. After a sequen ...

, 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''. Three days later, he followed this up by scoring the equaliser against Tottenham at

White Hart Lane White Hart Lane was a football stadium in Tottenham, North London and the home of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club from 1899 to 2017. Its capacity varied over the years; when changed to all-seater it had a capacity of 36,284 before demolition. ...

in a 1–1 draw as Sunderland moved up to seventh in the table. He also scored a goal in Sunderland's 3–0 victory at Stamford Bridge against Chelsea. Gyan scored Sunderland's third goal in their 3–0 victory over

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

on 1 January 2011. On 16 January 2011, he started against local rivals

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East En ...

, scoring a 94th-minute equaliser, preventing Newcastle gaining their second win of the season against Sunderland. 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

4–2, a match which ended prematurely for the forward as he was

substituted A substitution reaction (also known as single displacement reaction or single substitution reaction) is a chemical reaction during which one functional group in a chemical compound is replaced by another functional group. Substitution reactions ar ...

following a

hamstring injury Straining of the hamstring, also known as a pulled hamstring, is defined as an excessive stretch or tear of muscle fibers and related tissues. Hamstring injuries are common in athletes participating in many sports. Track and field athletes are ...

which is expected to see him miss the remainder of the season. 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 the squad 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

website that Gyan would leave on a season long loan to club

Al Ain FC Al Ain Football Club ( ar, نادي العين لكرة القدم; transliterated: Nady al-'Ayn) or Al Ain FC or simply Al Ain is a professional football club, based in the city of Al Ain, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. It is one of many s ...

.Bailey, Graeme. (10 September 2011)
Gyan deal confirmed
Sky Sports News. Retrieved 11 September 2011. Amid speculation of a fee of up to £6 million being paid for the

period, with Gyan receiving up to four times his previous salary, Chairman

Niall Quinn Niall John Quinn (honorary MBE; born 6 October 1966) is an Irish former professional footballer, manager, businessman and sports television pundit. As a player he was a striker who played top flight football for Arsenal, Manchester City and S ...

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 Martin Hugh Michael O'Neill, (born 1 March 1952) is a Northern Irish professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. Starting his career in Northern Ireland, O'Neill moved to England where he spent most of his play ...

became manager of Sunderland on 8 December 2011, he considered the possibility of recalling Gyan from his loan spell away from the club. Gyan signed a five-year

contract A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to tr ...

with Al Ain on 6 July 2012 worth over £6m per season. He was the top goalscorer in the UAE league in the 2013 season and helped his team retain the league title. On 24 July 2014, Gyan announced on his personal website that he had signed a contract extension at Al-Ain, receiving an improved deal and tying him to the club until 2018.

Shanghai SIPG

On 7 July 2015, Gyan confirmed on his own website that he had left Al Ain and was set to join

Chinese Super League The Chinese Football Association Super League, commonly known as Chinese Super League or CSL, currently known as the China Ping An Chinese Football Association Super League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest tier of professional football in ...

club Shanghai SIPG. Shanghai SIPG then officially announced they signed Gyan from Al Ain with an undisclosed fee. It was then revealed that Gyan's weekly salary of £227,000 with his Chinese club instantly made him one of the world's best paid football players.

Kayserispor

On 5 July 2017, he joined the Turkish club Kayserispor. On 9 August 2019, Gyan left Kayserispor.

North East United

On 19 September 2019, he joined the Indian Super League side

NorthEast United NorthEast United FC is an Indian professional football club based in Guwahati, Assam that competes in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Indian football. The club was founded on 13 April 2014 during the inaugural season of Indian Supe ...

. On 26 October 2019 he scored his first goal for Northeast United FC against Odisha FC in the 84 th minute of the match as his team won the game by 2–1. Halfway through the season, he suffered an injury that would keep him out for the rest of the season, and on 15 January 2020, he was officially released from the club as Irish striker

Andy Keogh Andrew Declan Keogh (born 16 May 1986) is a former Irish professional footballer who last played as a striker for A-League club Perth Glory. Born in Dublin, Keogh played the first several years of his professional career playing for a number ...

was signed as a replacement. He ended his time with Northeast United with a total of 4 goals in 8 appearances.

Legon Cities

On 1 November 2020, Gyan returned to Ghana to join Legon Cities, in a loan deal worth more than 1 million dollars. He played his first match on 27 November 2020, coming on in the 71st minute for Raphael Ocloo in their goalless draw against Medeama, marking a 17-year return to the

since leaving his boyhood club Liberty Professionals to sign for Italian club Udinese. On 3 June 2021, Gyan started his first match for the ''Royals'' in the

2021 Ghanaian FA Cup The 2021 Ghanaian FA Cup (also called the 2021 MTN FA Cup for sponsorship reasons) is the 41st edition of the Ghanaian FA Cup, the knockout Association football, football competition of Ghana. History Due to the shortcomings within the Ghana Foo ...

Round of 64 match against Uncle 'T', which ended in a 2–1 victory at

Accra Sports Stadium The Accra Sports Stadium, formerly named the Ohene Djan Stadium, is a multi-use stadium (40,000-capacity, all-seater) located in Accra. Ghana, mostly used for association football matches. It is also used for rugby union. Overview The stadium wa ...

via a brace from Richmond Antwi.

International career

Gyan made his international debut at the age of 17, three days before his 18th birthday. Gyan scored on his senior International debut for

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and Tog ...

against

Somalia Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constitut ...

on 19 November 2003 in the 90th minute. He came on for Nana Arhin Duah in the 77th 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, helping Ghana to qualify for their first world cup in history. 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

of the tournament after 68 seconds. The strike was also Ghana's first ever goal in the

, coming in the

game A game is a structured form of play, usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or games) or art (suc ...

against the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

on 17 June at the RheinEnergieStadion in

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

, 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 to

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

in the

round of 16 A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

, he was sent off in the 81st minute after collecting his second booking of the match (for diving). On 24 January 2008, during the

, Gyan and his brother Baffour decided to walk out on the Black Stars following criticism after their unconvincing 1–0 win over

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

. The media learnt the brothers had packed their bags and were ready to leave the team hotel but were persuaded to stay by teammates. In the

2010 Africa Cup of Nations The 2010 Africa Cup of Nations, also known as the Orange Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 27th Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial football championship of Africa ( CAF). It was held in Angola, where it began on 10 January ...

, 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 , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

against

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia ( Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hu ...

, in a 1–0 win. He hit the goalpost in the 92nd minute before being

to a standing ovation just before the final whistle. 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 against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

. In the round of 16 match against the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

, he scored a goal in extra time allowing Ghana to win 2–1 and hence become the third African team in history to qualify to the tournament's quarter final, after

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the ...

and

Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 ...

. In the quarter final tie against

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

, following

Luis Suárez Luis Alberto Suárez Díaz (; born 24 January 1987) is a Uruguayan professional footballer who plays as a striker for Uruguayan Primera División club Nacional and the Uruguay national team. Nicknamed ''El Pistolero'' ('The Gunman'), he is ...

's handling of the ball on the goal-line, he missed a

penalty kick A penalty shot or penalty kick is a play used in several sports whereby a goal is attempted during untimed play. Depending on the sport, when a player commits certain types of penalties, the opposition is awarded a penalty shot or kick attempt. ...

with no time remaining at end of

extra time Overtime or extra time is an additional period of play specified under the rules of a sport to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only ...

, hitting the crossbar and necessitating a

penalty shootout The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

to decide the game. He converted his kick in the subsequent penalty shootout, but Uruguay went on to win the shootout 4–2. 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. On 8 May 2012, he announced his return to the Black Stars team. On 7 June 2013, he scored 2 goals in a 3–1 win over

Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...

in a World Cup qualifier to make him the country's leading goalscorer, surpassing

Abedi Pele Abedi Ayew ( ; born 5 November 1964), known professionally as Abedi Pele, is a Ghanaian former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder and who served as captain of the Ghana national team. He is regarded as one of the gr ...

's 33 goals. On 2 June 2014, Gyan was named in Ghana's squad for the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for list of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from ...

. In the team's opening match, he captained the Black Stars against the United States in a 2–1 defeat. He scored his first goal of the tournament in a 2–2 draw with

, equaling Roger Milla's record of five

goals. In the final group match, he became the top African goalscorer in World Cup finals history by scoring the Black Stars' goal as they were defeated 2–1 by

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of th ...

. At the

2015 Africa Cup of Nations The 2015 Africa Cup of Nations, known as the Orange Africa Cup of Nations, Equatorial Guinea 2015 for sponsorship reasons, was the 30th staging of the Africa Cup of Nations, the international men's football championship of Africa. It was orga ...

, Gyan missed Ghana's opening match, a 2–1 loss to Senegal, with a "mild bout" of malaria. He returned for the second match, scoring a last minute winning goal against the tournament favourite

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

in a 1–0 win for the Black Stars. An international exile lasting over a year was ended in October 2018 when Gyan was called up to the Ghanaian squad for a pair of

2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualification The 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualification matches were organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to decide the participating teams of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations, the 32nd edition of the international men's football champions ...

matches versus

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierr ...

. He announced his retirement from international football on 20 May 2019, a month to the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations. However, a day later Gyan reversed his decision following a discussion with the president of Ghana, Nana Akufo-Addo, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo. In early August of 2022 Gyan released a statement that he was training to get back to full fitness to play in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Gyan was not part of the 26 man squad selected to represent Ghana in the World Cup 2022 and since then has been an ample supporter of the Black Stars and has been leading fan festivals and ceremonies.

Outside football

Boxing promotion

In June 2012, Gyan turned his attention towards boxing

promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

and announced he would put on his debut

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...

show in Ghana. On 6 July, Asamoah Gyan stated: In February 2021, a contract between Baby Jet Promotions and

Emmanuel Tagoe Emmanuel Tagoe (born 10 January 1989) is a Ghanaian professional boxer who held the IBO lightweight title from 2016 to 2018. As of August 2020, he is ranked as the world's ninth best active lightweight by the Transnational Boxing Rankings Boar ...

who was the only boxer in the promotion's fold was terminated. The contract was for a period spanning October 2018 to November 2021.

Baby Jet Airlines

As of October 2017, Asamoah Gyan has been granted an ''Air Carrier Licence'' (ACL) by the Ghanaian Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA). According to the

Ghana News Agency The Ghana News Agency (GNA) is the official news agency of the country of Ghana. It was founded in 1957 by President Kwame Nkrumah, Mr. Donald Wright, who was seconded by the Reuters News Agency set up the Ghana News Agency and in 1961 President Nk ...

, the start-up is named Baby Jet Airlines. With the license in hand, the start-up is now permitted to begin with its AOC certification drive.

Tennis

He began to play tennis in 2020 to keep him fit after a long break due to injury. Baby Jet promotions linked up with MANCWA Commodities to run the Top 16 Invitational tournament in a bid to promote the sport.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Rennes *

Coupe de France The Coupe de France, formerly known as the Coupe Charles Simon, is the premier knockout cup competition in French football organized by the French Football Federation (FFF). It was first held in 1917 and is open to all amateur and profession ...

runner-up: 2008–09 Al Ain *

UAE Pro League The UAE Pro League ( ar, دوري المحترفين الإماراتي), known for sponsorship reasons as the ADNOC Pro League, is the top professional football league in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The first team to win the title was Al ...

: 2011–12, 2012–13, 2014–15 *

UAE President's Cup The UAE President's Cup, or simply the President Cup, is a football tournament that takes place in United Arab Emirates, between clubs in the UAE Pro League and the UAE First Division League. The winner qualifies for the AFC Champions League. Hi ...

: 2013–14 *

UAE Super Cup The UAE Super Cup ( ar, كأس السوبر الإماراتي), is the curtain raiser of the United Arab Emirates football season. It is played between the previous season's Pro-League winners and President's Cup Winners. The first edition was p ...

: 2012 Ghana *

runner-up:

; third place:

Individual *

BBC African Footballer of the Year The BBC African Sports Personality of the Year (previously known as the BBC African Sports Star of the Year and the BBC African Footballer of the Year) was an annual award given to the best African sports personality of the year as voted by the B ...

: 2010 * African Footballer of the Year Second Place: 2010 * CAF Team of the Year: 2010, 2013, 2014 * UAE Pro League Top Scorer: 2011–12, 2012–13, 2013–14 * AFC Champions League Top Scorer:

*AFC Champions League Dream Team:

* AFC Foreign Player of the Year:

GCC Golden Boot Arabian Golden Boot award for the top scorer in the Arabian Leagues, Established in 1979–80 by the Lebanese magazine event "Al Hadath Sports", The award is presented annually to the best scorer, (Consideration to the rate of the goals in the matc ...

: 2011–12, 2012–13, 2013–14 * UAE President's Cup Top scorer: 2013–14, 2014–15 *

Team of the Tournament:

* Ghana Men's Player of the Year Award: 2012 *

Ghana Football Awards Ghana Football Awards is an annual award scheme organized to recognize the best Ghanaian players playing in and outside of the country and key stakeholders who contribute significantly to the game. Several category of awards are given to the most o ...

Player of the Decade: 2011–2020 *

Ghana Player of the Year The Ghana Player of the Year (or ''Ghanaian Footballer of the Year'') is an annual award from Football Association of Ghana, govern in recognition of excellence to the best Ghanaian professional association footballer of the year. The title has ...

: 2010, 2014 * Calcio Trade Ball Order of the Star Award: 2017 Records * Al Ain Second All-time top scorer: 128 goals * Al Ain Second UAE Pro League top scorer: 95 goals * Al Ain Most league goals in a season: 31 goals (2012–13 season) * Al Ain Most

AFC Champions League The AFC Champions League (abbreviated as ACL) is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and contested by Asia's top-division football clubs. It is the most prestigious club competition ...

goals: 18 goals (shared with

Omar Abdulrahman Omar Abdulrahman Ahmed Al Raqi Al Amoudi ( ar, عمر عبد الرحمن أحمد الراقي العمودي; born 20 September 1991) is an Emirati professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Emirati club Al Wasl F.C. and ...

) * Most UAE Pro League Top scorers: 3 (shared with

Fahad Khamees Fahad Khamees Mubarak ( ar, فهد خميس مبارك; born 24 January 1962) is an UAE, Emirati retired Association football, footballer who played as a striker for the UAE national football team and Al Wasl FC in Dubai. He played in the 199 ...

) * Most

(Arabian Golden Boot): 3 * Ghana national team top goalscorer: 51 goals * Ghana national team all-time appearance holder: 109 appearances * Most goals for Ghana national team at World Cup: 6 goals * Youngest goalscorer for Ghana national team: 17 years 362 days (for Ghana vrs

, 2003) * Most appearances for Ghana at African Cup of nations: 7 tournaments (shared with André Ayew) * Most African Cup of Nations tournaments with a goal: 6 tournaments (shared with

Samuel Eto'o Samuel Eto'o Fils (; born 10 March 1981) is a Cameroonian football administrator and former player who is the current president of the Cameroonian Football Federation from 11 December 2021. In his prime, Eto'o was regarded by pundits as one of ...

Kalusha Bwalya Kalusha Bwalya (born 16 August 1963) is a Zambian former international footballer. He is Zambia's eighth-most capped player and third on the list of all-time top goalscorers behind Godfrey Chitalu and Alex Chola. Kalusha was named African Fo ...

, André Ayew) * Most Goals scored by an African at the World Cup: 6 goals *https://ghanasoccernet.com/watch-asamoah-gyan-starts-training-to-be-fit-for-qatar-world-cup * Consecutive International tournament scoring record: 9 tournaments (shared with

Cristiano Ronaldo Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro (; born 5 February 1985) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a forward and captains the Portugal national team. He is currently a free agent. Widely regarded as one of the greatest pl ...

)

References

External links

Asamoah Gyan – Goals in International Matches
at

RSSSF The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (RSSSF) is an international organization dedicated to collecting statistics about association football. The foundation aims to build an exhaustive archive of football-related information from around the ...

* *
Premier League profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gyan, Asamoah 1985 births 2008 Africa Cup of Nations players 2010 Africa Cup of Nations players 2012 Africa Cup of Nations players 2013 Africa Cup of Nations players 2015 Africa Cup of Nations players 2017 Africa Cup of Nations players 2006 FIFA World Cup players 2010 FIFA World Cup players 2014 FIFA World Cup players Al Ahli Club (Dubai) players Al Ain FC players Alumni of the Accra Academy Association football forwards Chinese Super League players Expatriate footballers in China Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in France Expatriate footballers in Italy Expatriate footballers in Turkey Expatriate footballers in the United Arab Emirates FIFA Century Club Footballers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Ghana international footballers Ghanaian expatriate footballers Ghanaian expatriate sportspeople in France Ghanaian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Ghanaian expatriate sportspeople in England Ghanaian expatriate sportspeople in China Ghanaian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Ghanaian footballers Kayserispor footballers Liberty Professionals F.C. players Ligue 1 players Living people Modena F.C. players Olympic footballers of Ghana Premier League players Serie A players Serie B players Shanghai Port F.C. players Stade Rennais F.C. players Sunderland A.F.C. players Süper Lig players UAE Pro League players Udinese Calcio players 2019 Africa Cup of Nations players Legon Cities F.C. players

Club career

Liberty Professionals

Udinese

Rennes

Sunderland

Al Ain

Shanghai SIPG

Kayserispor

North East United

Legon Cities

International career

Outside football

Boxing promotion

Baby Jet Airlines

Tennis

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

See also

References

External links