Ghana captain Asamoah Gyan insists he’s been hugely motivated by the wave of criticism that has greeted his fabulous career.
The 30-year-old has been the most criticized Black Star player in recent history amid a love-hate relationship with Ghanaian soccer fans.
The iconic Ghanaian figure has endured a turbulent international career punctuated with praises and insults in equal measure.
The former Sunderland hitman Sunderland had to carry the can for missing the spot-kick that denied Ghana a historic and famous World Cup semi-final berth against Uruguay in South Africa.
He temporarily called time on his international career two years on after he missed another spot-kick against Zambia in the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations due to the massive verbal abuse and death threats.
But the Shanghai SIPG attacker has revealed he’s been spurred on by the constant criticism of his performance, insisting it’s borne out of fans’ insatiable love for him.
“Sometimes I feel my fans love me too much; as an example, when you break up with your fiance you get heartbroken so that where things go wrong they get heartbroken and criticize you by saying all things,” he told Accra-based Starr FM
“At the end of the day people see me on the streets about 95% of them just want to see me and I ask myself where the haters are? But this makes me stronger because I am mentally strong.”
Gyan is the most idolized Ghanaian player with an enviable scoring record which has hit roof top.
He is the country’s most capped player with 93 international appearances.
The former Al Ain goal machine is Ghana’s all-time leading scorer with 48 goals in 93 appearances and Africa’s highest scorer at the World Cup with six goals, surpassing the long-time record held by Cameroonian legend Roger Milla.
By Patrick Akoto, follow on twitter@ Patakoto1