By Patrick Akoto
Asamoah Gyan has hailed the reception that he received during Ghanaââ¬â¢s 2013 African Cup of Nations qualifier against Malawi.
The Al Ain attacker captained the Black Stars as they laboured to a 2-0 win over The Flames at the Accra Sports stadium.
The 26-year-old who played his first competitive game for the West African heavyweights since he returned from his self-imposed exile was thrilled with the kind of reception that he received from fans.
ââ¬ËItââ¬â¢s a privilege. This is the first time Iââ¬â¢m captaining my country and I must say I am very grateful for the opportunity,â⬠Gyan said
ââ¬ÅItââ¬â¢s a privilege and I appreciate the support of my teammates, the coach and everyone. I am also happy that we won the game which gives us a very good chance,ââ¬
ââ¬ÅI know we have quality players playing regularly at their clubs. I can assure Ghanaians that we will go there to qualify.ââ¬
He added: ââ¬ÅI think itââ¬â¢s important that Ghanaians should give us moral support. We had not played Malawi before but we have and know what they are capable so weââ¬â¢ll go there with the perfect plan for them,ââ¬
ââ¬Å It is also important to realize that we have won by what should be a good result even if we could not score as many as we wanted,ââ¬
ââ¬ÅThey now have an ardous task to beat us by three goals and prevent us from scoring but I know we have top players to punish them.ââ¬
The Black Stars must avoid defeat in Blantyre during the return fixture to qualify to the 2013 African Cup of Nations tournaments in South Africa.