Asamoah Gyan explains why he took the penalty against Uruguay ahead of Stephen Appiah in 2010 World Cup

Former Sunderland forward Asamoah Gyan has explained why he took the penalty against Uruguay in the 2010 FIFA World Cup quarter-final ahead of then-Ghana skipper Stephen Appiah.

Ghana were denied a semifinal berth at the global showpiece courtesy of a Luis Suarez handball incident. He prevented a goal-bound header from Dominic Adiyiah in the final minute of extra time at the Soccer City Stadium in Johannesburg and was shown a red card as a result.

The Black Stars were awarded a penalty, but Gyan’s attempt from 12 yards crashed into the crossbar, sending the game to a penalty shootout which Uruguay won 4-2.

“Before every game, we have the penalty taker. We have the first penalty taker and I’m the first one,” the 36-year-old said on Citi TV.

“If you could cast your mind back, the first game against Serbia, I was the one who took it. Against Australia, I was the one who took it so it shows that, we have people who take penalties.

“Even that day, if Steven Appiah could have gotten the ball, he would have given it to me because that’s the arrangements.”