Asamoah Gyan: “I’m planning to start an airline company”
The Ghanaian is starting an airline, gets calls from women all over the world, and still looks out for Sunderland. Now he’s desperate for AFCON glory
How was your time at Sunderland? I enjoyed every single minute there. It’s one of my proudest moments in life to have played at such a great club in such a unique football country. Sometimes I feel that I left early, but maybe that’s what fate had in store for me. The fans were unbelievable through thick and thin. Day and night, they’d travel to see us play – man, it was something else.
You scored a 94th-minute equaliser against Newcastle. How did that feel? That was a special day, and I did it for Steve Bruce. When I arrived, he told me that he’d signed me for the big games. He said he believed in me, and that at least in big games I should make him proud. I scored against Tottenham and Chelsea, and scoring against Newcastle with the last kick of the game was unbelievable. I earned the respect of a dressing room that was very difficult to please.
Why did you leave for Al Ain in the UAE? Look, I’m going to be honest here: it was the money. It was too good to turn down. But a hidden detail is that Sunderland accepted a £7m loan offer for me from Al Ain before even informing me. Then they decided to convince me that the money was very good for a short loan, and that the club needed the money. I was enjoying my football, but Al Ain offered me wages that instantly made me the best-paid footballer from Africa. I couldn’t resist. Pray you never be put in such a situation. It changed everything, and I just had to take it and leave. I don’t regret it, though, because it made me who I am now. I enjoyed playing at Al Ain, I stayed for four seasons, and it changed my life financially forever.
How do you feel about Sunderland being in League One now? It was sad to see what happened to my old club, but the club’s spirit will bring it back. It’s not a club made for the lower divisions. I plan to help in any small way I can after I hang up my boots.
At 33, and in Turkey with Kayserispor, what are your retirement plans? I’m planning a lot of things. I have plans to start an airline company, and that’s getting closer. I have investments in Africa. But I’ll always be in football. You never know, I may play a good role for Sunderland soon. I would love to help.
As a child, which player inspired you? The Brazilian Ronaldo – all I wanted to do was score goals like him. When I got to play against him at the 2006 World Cup, I had a feeling of satisfaction that all my millions of dollars never gave me: to share the same football pitch as the idol who’d influenced me. Only fulfilled people can really relate to that feeling.
What’s it like to be a well-known name in many countries? Do you get a lot of attention from women, say? These days, I get calls from women all over the world who say they’re dying to be with me – 90 per cent of the women I meet tell me they love me. Of course, I know it’s because of the fame. It’s a normal thing that every professional athlete handles. I have had so many experiences with women, but my first experience with my first love is one I’ll never forget. I still feel some pain when I look back. There was a girl in my area – I loved her and I wanted her to be my wife. She was with me from my days at school, but she felt maybe I wouldn’t make it as a footballer, so she ditched me to go for the son of one of the richest men in our neighbourhood. The week she left me, I had a chance for a trial in Greece, and from there things started to progress for me in football. If she’d waited for a few more months, maybe she would have been my wife.
What’s your biggest regret in life? The penalty against Uruguay in the 2010 World Cup quarter-final really kills me, and nine years later I still wake up in the middle of the night thinking about that. I can’t believe I missed it, and I’ve never been the same again. Sometimes I feel that football is cruel. I would give all my goals to have scored that one – it would have made Ghana the first-ever African country to reach a World Cup semi-final. I’m only human. I guess it’s a situation I have to live with for the rest of my life.
That last-minute penalty came after Luis Suarez handballed on the line. Have you ever spoken to him about it? Yeah, I met him shortly after the World Cup because I’d moved to England and we played Liverpool. He was very happy he kept the ball out with his hands. He said he had to do what he could to help his nation, or at least that’s what I could make of our little conversation, because his English wasn’t that good. But I don’t hold anything against Suarez – I missed the penalty, and I have to live with that.
The Africa Cup of Nations is coming up this summer. How do you view Ghana’s chances of winning it for the first time since 1982? We have a really good team. In these big tournaments, the psychology of the players always decides the games, so I hope we’ll have the answers required to win it. Ghanaians have invested a lot into the team, and for 37 years it’s been a case of near-misses – I hope that we get some fortune this year. It won’t be easy, but I always say you don’t win an Oscar while lying on your bed.
How would you feel if you retired without having won it for Ghana? Being brutally honest, if I’m unable to win the AFCON, I’ll feel that something is missing in my career. I’ve been lucky in life; I’ve had chances that some can only dream of, played the game to the highest level, made money and enjoyed it. But I really want to give the trophy to my nation. We’ve tried and tried in vain in recent years, but I feel like this year could be the one. I’ve won nothing with my nation as captain and that hurts me so badly. This could be the last AFCON for me, but it makes me hope that the best one is always saved until the end. Rahman Osman