By: Sheikh Tophic Sienu @desheikh1 on twitter
I was so much amazed at how the English Media carried the 50th goal feet achieved by Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney which has eventually become the greatest news in the football world over the last few days.
Well, congrats to Wayne Rooney for scoring 50 goals for England, the country that won the 1966 World Cup. For a football country like England I thought a player should score at least 100 goals for his country to hail him.
Oh, so Bobby Charlton for all these years had scored just 49 goals as the top scorer in England? Oh so for all this while, the top international scorer in a football country like England had scored 49 goals? Kudos to Asamoah Gyan!
In as much as I don't admire the 50th goal English record by Wayne Rooney, I think it is an eye opener for the Ghanaian sports journalist. Yes, there is a positive vibe in there.
If Wayne Rooney would score 50 goals out of 107 international matches and attract this media attention, then Asamoah Gyan should be lauded by the Ghanaian media for scoring 48 goals out of 90 matches. But we have a problem in this country. Any journalist who attempts that will be tagged "HE HAS TAKEN MONEY".
But wait. Has the English media guys taken any money from Wayne Rooney for such a publicity? Don't be upset. It is a legitimate question.
I remember when Asamoah Gyan scored his 6th World Cup goal against Germany at the World Cup in 2014, I wrote a piece about the exploits of the Ghanaian at the International stage, and amazingly, some of my own colleague journalists jumped at me with the calls, "HE HAS TAKEN MONEY". I was shocked. But I was not bothered because I had not taken anything as they thought.
Why are we quick in hailing other country's heroes but we are hesitant to do same to our own heroes?
Look, just 50 goals and a whole Rooney has been hailed as a king in his country and we fail to do same to our own. From today, I declare 'ALL HAIL ASAMOAH GYAN' in the Ghanaian sports media.
This is a player who has scored 48 goals out of 90 international matches. A record that Cristiano RonaIdo?, Lionel Andres Messi, Wayne Rooney, and almost all the biggest international stars are envious of. But we sit here in Ghana and talk about them instead of talking about our own. And sadly, the few ones who will do it are tagged to have taken money. Ah, how sad???
This is a player who has scored 6 world cup goals which the likes of Zlatan Ibrahimovic?, Wayne Rooney, Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, and almost all the top world class players are envious of. Yet we sit here in Ghana and despise him. Am sad!
The way the English media has lauded and branded Wayne Rooney should be a great lesson to all of us. Let us learn something good from it and use it as local journos.
We need to hype and brand our own. Nobody will come down and do it for us.
ALL HAIL ASAMOAH GYAN!!!