Black Stars captain Asamoah Gyan has urged his team mates to prove their willingness to win the 2017 African Nations Cup in Gabon.
The tournament starts on January 14 and the Black Stars will play their first match on January 17 against Uganda. The team has been preparing in Al-Ain in the United Arab Emirates since January 2 and the Stars played against Bunyodkor of Uzbekistan on Tuesday in a friendly which they won 2-0.
Gyan, speaking in an exclusive interview with TV3 on Wednesday, said that he and his team mates must show the hunger and desire to win the tournament even though they have the needed skills. “Every thing is possible in football. We can win the AFCON. I use Cote d’Ivoire as an example. They lost in 2006 and 2012 on penalties but they won it in 2015 against us. We can also win but it will depend on the team. We have the quality but I believe that our attitude on the field can determine whether or not we will go far.
It is very easy to talk about winning the trophy but we need to show the world that we want to really win it. I pray that we will be injury-free because we need all the help we can get from the players on the pitch and those on the bench. Everybody must get involved if we will the trophy.”
Gyan is currently tied with Black Stars player Rev. Osei Kofi on 7 goals in the African Nations Cup and one more will make him Ghana’s greatest goal scorer in the history of the tournament. However, he said that he was not overly concerned with individual accolades but was rather interested in assisting the team get wins which would be key in winning the tournament.
“I try to do my best for the team to win. I do not try to break records. I do my best and I leave the rest for the fans to judge. I did not even know about the historical landmark (in relation to Ghana’s top scorer in the Nations Cup) so I just try to get the job done and after that, I try to reflect on what I did. I will do my best for Ghana and make sure we bring the cup back home.”
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