Experienced Ghanaian trainer Joseph Emmanuel Sarpong has revealed he telephoned ex-Ghana coach James Kwasi Appiah to impress upon him to reverse his decision to strip Asamoah Gyan of the Black Stars captaincy.
Gyan, 36, was removed as Black Stars captain with Andre Ayew taking over from him as the new leader of the playing body.
The ex-Sunderland forward has recently opened up on events leading up to Kwasi Appiah’s decision and admitted he was deeply hurt by the way the issue was handled.
Meanwhile, former Ghana U23 assistant trainer Sarpong who trained the all-time African record-scorer at the FIFA World Cup has revealed he called the head coach at midnight to advise him to reverse his decision.
“I called Kwasi Appiah at midnight about the decision because I wasn’t happy about what I heard at the time. Kwasi confirmed the decision and explained the rationale behind his decision to me. I will never forget it. I told him that the timing wasn’t favourable so he should reverse it but he stuck to his decision to reverse the decision,” he told GTV Sports+.
The coach also revealed he advised Asamoah Gyan to retire from the senior national team after observing the conduct of players ahead of a game against Congo in Kumasi.
“I called Asamoah after observing what was happening around the team and impressed upon him to call it a quit from the national team. But, he told me he wanted to play at his last World Cup [Russia 2018 FIFA World Cup] before retiring. But, he never did until he was removed,” he told Kwame Dwomoh-Agyemang.
Credit: Ghanasportsonline
