ASAMOAH GYAN: GHANA'S LETHAL GOALSCORING GENIUS
Ransford Yaw Asamoah Gyan whose birthday coincides with Congolese footballer Dieumerci Mbokani Bezua was born on November 22, 1985 to George Baffuor Gyan Mensah and Cecilia Love Amoako of blessed memory.
His older brother is former Black Stars forward Baffuor Gyan.
An indigene of Wenchi in the Bono Region, he had his early education at Seven Great Princes Academy which impeccably nurtured Priscilla Opoku-Kwarteng alias Ebony Reigns of blessed memory and Charles Nii Armah Mensah Jnr known in showbiz circles as Shatta Wale.
He later attended Accra Academy birthed on July 20, 1931 which boasts of sports icons namely Leonard Myles-Mills, Lee Addy, Owusu Afriyie, Princeton Owusu Ansah, Godfried Aduobe, Dr. Ransford Abbey, Samuel Anim Addo and Prosper Harrison Addo for his secondary education.
Developing an insatiable appetite for football, he joined Liberty Professionals birthed on September 28, 1996 which unearthed the likes of Micheal Essien, Sulley Muntari, Kwadwo Asamoah, Emmanuel Addoquaye Pappoe, Derek Boateng, Daniel Agyei, Enoch Kofi Adu, Ebenezer Assifuah, Anthony Obodai, Kennedy Ashia, Abdul Latif Salifu and Latif Blessing to hone his dexterity and goalscoring wizardy.
Having excelled to the admiration of all and sundry, he joined the exodus bandwagon and debuted for Ghana in a 5-0 demolition of Somalia on November 16, 2003.
He also featured for the Black Meteors at the 2004 Olympiad held in Athens, Greece.
Nicknamed Baby Jet for his marauding runs, deft touches, blistering pace and superb goalscoring he played an integral role in Ghana's historic World Cup debut on German soil in 2006 and hit the back of the net in sixty-eight seconds against Czech Republic. The country's first World Cup scorer netted at the 2010 and 2014 editions and leapfrogged Cameroon's Albert Roger Milla as Africa's top scorer at the quadrennial football showpiece.
The lethal marksman who last played for Ghanaian topflight side Legon Cities also enjoyed spells in Italy, France, England, China, India, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates. Having played for the Black Stars at the Nations Cup in 2008, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2017 and 2019 he helped Ghana to finish in third place at the 2008 event and finished as a runner up in both 2010 and 2015.
He netted fifty-one goals in one hundred and nine caps for the Black Stars.