Renowned Ghanaian football administrator Alhaji Karim Grunsah is unhappy by Asamoah Gyan’s open assertion that Ghana’s match-winning penalty in their recent 2022 World Cup qualifier against South Africa was ‘soft’.
The former Black Stars captain’s remarks on the referee’s controversial call has upset many
In a must-win game for the Black Stars, Senegalese referee Maguette N’Diaye pointed to the spot when Daniel Amartey went down under the challenge of Rushine De Reuck in the first half.
Captain Andre Ayew converted the resultant kick as the game ended in a 1-0 home win for the Black Stars in Cape Coast.
“Asamoah Gyan is ungrateful and a pretender, he won’t even get the opportunity to become a ball boy, he should stop talking about the penalty against South Africa,” Grunsah, president of Ghana Premier League side King Faisal Babes, said on Asempa FM.
The three points moved Ghana level on points with South Africa at the end of the group stage. The Black Stars, though, qualified to the next round of the series as group winners owing to a better scoring record.
South Africa have since challenged the referee’s penalty call and a host of other decisions, filing an appeal at Fifa for potential match-fixing.
Gyan, like many, shared his thoughts on the penalty call, suggesting De Reuck’s challenge on Amartey may have been exaggerated by the Leicester City man.
“I think the incident was a bit casual. From where I sit and how I saw it I think Daniel Amartey went down too easily but the referee was closer to the spot and probably had a better view of the situation,” Gyan told Asempa FM.
“Remember the tempo of the game also could have influenced the referee’s decision to award the spot-kick.”
Gyan’s comments follow a similar remark by Reading right-back Andy Yiadom who featured in the fateful game for the Black Stars.
World football’s governing body Fifa, having received a response from Ghana concerning South Africa’s allegations and is expected to imminently announce its final decision on the matter.
Gyan is Ghana’s current all-time top scorer and most capped player, his last outing for the nation coming at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations tournament in Egypt.