Ghana legend Asamoah Gyan says he is yet to talk to the technical handlers of the Black Stars as he eyes a return to the squad for the 2022 World Cup.
The unattached 36-year-old won the last of his 107 caps for the Black Stars in July 2019, and has not played a club game since an outing in April 2021 for Accra-based side Legon Cities.
But the former Udinese, Rennes and Sunderland forward says he is embarking on a fitness programme with the hope of appearing at what would be his fourth World Cup finals.
Gyan has scored 51 goals for Ghana, and six of those have come at the World Cup, where he featured in 2006, 2010 and 2014.
Those feats make him both his country’s all-time record goalscorer, and Africa’s top goalscorer at the World Cup finals.
He turns 37 two days before Ghana’s Group H opener against Portugal on 24 November, but says his age is no barrier to playing in Qatar, citing the example of another African great.
“I haven’t announced my retirement,” he said.
“Anything can happen, you know. It’s happened before, talking about Cameroon in 1994, with Roger Milla coming back from retirement to play in a World Cup.”
However, Gyan has not held conversations with Ghana coach Otto Addo or technical director Chris Hughton, who have been busy bolstering the squad’s options with members of the diaspora such as Brighton defender Tariq Lampety and Athletic Bilbao forward Inaki Williams.
“Honestly I haven’t spoken to anybody at all,” Gyan said.
“It’s part of the plan. I just want to make sure I see how my body reacts first. I just need to get to some level and then I can say I’m ready.
“Everything looks positive, so we’ll see what happens. There might be a surprise.”
Source: BBC
