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Former Ghana international Augustine Arhinful has backed the selection of veteran striker Asamoah Gyan for the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt amid concerns about his fitness and form.
In the twilight of his career, the 33-year-old, Ghana’s most capped player and all-time top scorer with 51 goals in 106 internationals, has missed the Black Stars’ last 10 games owing to his recent struggles with injury and form.
Gyan, however, insists he is very well prepared for the June 21-July 19 championship and on Sunday, he netted a double for Turkish club Kayserispor in a 2-1 league win over Kasimpasa.
“I believe we need Asamoah Gyan for his experience,” Arhinful, who played for Ghana at the 2000 Africa Cup of Nations on home soil, told Asempa FM.
“You can’t rule out experience when you are going into a tournament like this.
“We need strikers who can always position themselves at the right places at the right time.
“A lot of our strikers have been affected by moves they made during the transfer window.
“We also need players whose efforts will augment the strikers.”
Gyan, who made his international debut against Somalia in 2003, is one of only two Ghana players to have played at three Fifa World Cup tournaments.
Not only is he the historic scorer of Ghana’s first goal at the competition, but he is also Africa’s highest scorer at the World Cup with six goals.
At the Africa Cup, the striker holds Ghana’s record of the most tournament appearances, having played in six editions from 2008 to 2017.
The Black Stars have been drawn against Cameroon, Benin and Guinea-Bissau in Group F at the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations finals.
