Recently, Ghanaian football star Gian Asamoah looked back on the important moments of his career and said he would never forget the penalty he missed at the 2010 World Cup. "It will haunt me for the rest of my life".
Back a decade ago, in 2010, Ghana made its second appearance in the World Cup in its history and reached the quarter-finals------ which is the best record of an African team in the World Cup. In the group stage, Jian scored all the goals of the team and almost single-handedly helped the team qualify from the group. Facing the United States in the knockout rounds, Gian scored another goal and Ghana managed to reach the quarterfinals. In the final moments of the quarter-final match against Uruguay, Gian had a chance to make history with the team, but he missed a crucial penalty. In a short moment, Jian went from a hero to a sinner, but instead achieved Suarez's "hand of God". Although in the penalty shootout, Gian withstood the pressure and scored, but in the end Ghana fell on the twelve-yard line.
"To this day, he haunts me at any time." The 34-year-old Ghanaian legendary striker said in an interview. "Sometimes, I want to be able to go back in time to complete my redemption because I know that moment will always be in the rest of my time."
"I can only accept the fact that there is nothing I can do, I want to be a hero of the country but end up being a sinner. People blamed me and I accepted because I understood how they felt."
"It was a disaster. This is crazy. I was awake because I hadn't fallen asleep all night, and I kept crying until I became calm. I told myself I was going to get a chance to redeem myself, even outside of football. Even if I don't, my children will one day do it. ”
Born in 1985, Ji'an was selected for the Ghana Senior National Team in 2003 at the age of 18. In the same year he landed in Europe from his hometown, joining Serie A Udinese, and then moved between Rennes and Sunderland. In 2011, Gian joined Al Ain and in 2014 won the AFC Champions League Golden Boot and AFC Best Foreign Aid. In 2015, Ji'an moved to Shanghai SIPG in the Chinese Super League, but only scored seven goals in 20 Chinese Super League games for the team in two seasons.
After leaving SIPG, Gian played for West Asia and then the Turkish Super League. Last season, Gian played for half a year at India's Super Northeast United, making 8 appearances and scoring 4 goals. In January this year, Jian terminated his contract with the team and is currently in free.
Despite his unstable club career, he has left his footprints on all three continents. But at the national team level, Jian has always been the top card of the Ghanaian national team. He has scored 51 goals in 109 national team matches, the ghanaian national team's all-time top scorer, in addition to three World Cups, scoring 6 goals, and Gian is also the african player who has scored the most goals in the World Cup finals.
On the eve of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations, Jian angrily announced his retirement from the national team after learning that he had been removed as captain. But after receiving a call from Ghanaian President Akufado, Gian withdrew the decision and chose to continue fighting for his country. In the Africa Cup of Nations finals, Gian made just two substitute appearances, and Ghana also lost to Tunisia on penalties in the 16-8 match.
Ji An has not been called up for the national team since then, but he has not announced his withdrawal from the national team because he still wants to continue to win honors for the country. "It looks like some people want me to retire, but I don't want to"
"I had an injury before but now I've recovered. I feel physically ok now and have gained weight," Gian said. "I've never won a major tournament for the national team, I've been runners-up once and third once since 2003, but that's what I want. It's something that's always bothered me and something I've always wanted to achieve."
“for me, what will make somebody quit football is dedication, but it is still there so i feel i have a lot to prove and do on the field; when i see certain things, i feel like i can still do it.”
"For me, what makes a person give up football is dedication. But it's still there, so I feel like I have a lot to do on the pitch; when I see certain things, I feel like I can still do it. ”
At the age of 18, he was selected for the national team, 3 World Cups, 7 African Cups, 2008 African Cup of Nations third place, 2015 African Cup of Nations runner-up, for the country for 17 years, Ghana national team history of the best scorer. In the face of these accolades, Gian is the well-deserved first man in Ghana's history, but people seem to be obsessed with that penalty. Yeah, that was a historic penalty, but didn't he do enough for Gian? The 34-year-old still wants to continue to fight for his country, as he himself said, "I will end the day in my own way: no one can let me retire." ”