By Ameenu Shardow
Head editor of Al Hadath Al Riyadhi Magazine, Saeed Gabres fears Asamoah Gyan might not be able to retain his Arabian Golden Shoe award due to his injury.
The Ghana captain currently lead the goal scorers chart in the UAE top flight haven surmounted his goal tally in his debut season with Al Ain.
The 27-year-old who has scored 24 goals already this season faces a fierce contest with Brazilian Grafite who is on 23 goals for UAE’s goal king prize.
Gyan on Friday was awarded a Golden Shoe award for scoring the most goals in all of the Arabian leagues in the 2011-2012 season.
He scored 21 goals in 22 matches, 0.954 goals per match – a better record than his competitor Ahmed Hayel who won the top scorer award in the Jordanian top flight with 18 goals in 22 games.
The ex Sunderland striker will miss a couple of games due to a thigh injury sustained while playing for Ghana in the 2014 World Cup qualifiers.
And Gabres, whose firm initiated the award scheme in 1979 fears the Ghana captain may not repeat the achievement with him injured and Grafite gaining grounds with seven games left to run.
“I followed up (Asamoah) Gyan this season and I think he will keep the award for himself and UAE for the fifth time but the injury he had recently may affect him comparing to his competitor Grafite who is so close of the top scorers head especially there is only one goal clear,†Gabres noted.
“Gyan is a big name and I Spoke to him and he assured that he knows about the award and he looked happy for winning it and was waiting for this moment.â€
Gyan has however revealed he will recover fully to make a return in two weeks time.