Asamoah Gyan, who has scored 51 goals for Ghana's national team, the Black Stars, is frequently hailed as the best Ghanaian footballer in history by certain football fans. However, what has Asamoah Gyan accomplished for Ghana?
In this article, we will examine Asamoah Gyan's contributions to Ghana during the course of his 16 years as a member of the Black Stars, from 2003 to 2019.
Contributing to Ghana's historic World Cup qualification
Asamoah Gyan is frequently cited as one of the crucial Black Stars players that helped Ghana qualify for the World Cup for the first time ever in 2006.
He made his professional debut in 2003 when he was 17 years old and scored in the 90th minute of a 2006 World Cup qualifier at the Accra Sports Stadium against Somalia.
In order to assist Ghana to reach the 2006 World Cup for the first time in history, he went on to score four goals in seven World Cup qualifying matches.
Netting Ghana's first World Cup goal
At the RheinEnergieStadion in Cologne, Germany, in 2006, Asamoah Gyan scored Ghana's first-ever World Cup goal to give the Black Stars a 2-0 victory over the Czech Republic, marking Ghana's first-ever triumph at a World Cup.
Taking Ghana to the 2010 AFCON final
By scoring three of Ghana's four goals in the competition, Asamoah single-handedly took Ghana to the 2010 Angola Africa Cup of Nations final, where Ghana fell to Egypt 1-0.
Someone had to step up because the squad was dealing with a lot of injuries. Gyan accomplished, but Ghana fell short in the championship against the North Africans.
Making history during the 2010 World Cup in South Africa
After scoring three goals during the competition, Asamoah Gyan assisted Ghana in making history by advancing to the World Cup quarterfinals.
It is only two other African countries that have reached the World Cup quarter-final – Cameroon and Senegal.
Gyan scored the sole goal in Ghana's 1-0 victory against Serbia in the opening round of the group stage, and he also equalized in the country's 1-1 draw with Australia in the subsequent round.
Gyan's extra-time goal against the USA in the round of 16 gave Ghana its first-ever spot in the quarterfinals.
Assisting Ghana to reach the World Cup for the third time in a row
Ghana qualified for their third consecutive World Cup thanks to four goals from Asamoah Gyan. Prior to scoring against Lesotho and Egypt, he scored back-to-back goals against Sudan in the 2014 World Cup qualifiers.
In a 2-2 draw with Germany at the 2014 World Cup, Gyan scored a goal to tie Roger Milla for the most goals ever scored by an African player.
Five days later, he scored in Ghana’s 2-1 defeat to Portugal to become Africa’s best scorer in World Cup history with six goals.
Gyan leads Ghana to the 2015 AFCON final
Ghana was in danger of being eliminated from the 2015 AFCON if they lost against Algeria in their second group match after falling to Senegal 2-1 in the tournament's opening round.
However, Gyan, who missed the Senegal match due to sickness, scored the game-winning goal for Ghana in the last seconds to give the Black Stars a 1-0 victory. In the subsequent match, Ghana defeated South Africa 2-1 to win the group.
The Black Stars advanced to the championship game but fell to Ivory Coast 9-8 on penalties.
Joint-top appearance for Ghana
Asamoah Gyan and Andre Ayew are the players with the most caps for Ghana, each with 109. When he next represents Ghana, Andre Ayew will have the chance to surpass that.
All-time leading scorer for Ghana
Ghana's all-time leading scorer, Asamoah Gyan, with 51 goals in 109 games played. He played his final game for Ghana in Egypt during the 2019 AFCON.