The 2022 World Cup is three months away, according to Ghanaian player Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu, and Asamoah Gyan won’t be able to prepare himself for it in time.
Being fit and developing match fitness are entirely different things, according to Agyemang-Badu, who shared the field with Gyan for almost a decade while playing for the Black Stars. “There are differences between training alone and training with a club. He is more familiar than I am with the World Cup stage. The midfielder was quoted by Ghanaweb as saying, “He has been there longer than I have. “He has been there three times, and he served as a captain in 2014, so he is familiar with the environment.
“Training alone two and a half months before a tournament like this – for my experience I had when I have an injury for six months and came back it took me like three or four months before I got better. For the World Cup, I don’t believe Asamoah Gyan will be prepared. Following his interview with the BBC, in which he likened his potential comeback to that of Roger Milla, who left retirement to represent Cameroon in the 1994 World Cup, Gyan has become a social media sensation.
After making his international debut in 2003, the 36-year-old was a consistent member of the Black Stars for almost two decades. Since competing at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Egypt, he has not appeared for the national squad. In the past three years, Gyan has struggled with nagging ailments, and his stint playing for Legon Cities in the Ghana Premier League also didn’t go as planned.
He hasn’t played in a while, but despite this, he says he hasn’t retired and has said he’s open to playing for the Black Stars again before the World Cup in Qatar. Even though Gyan would not be able to participate in the game, Agyemang-Badu noted that he might be added to the tournament’s backroom crew.
He continued, “What we can provide him is to be there to help with the hitting side as the striker’s coach but for the field of play, he can never be ready for the World Cup. Agyemang-Badu just signed with the Great Olympics of the Ghana Premier League.
