AFCON 2015: I’m not fully fit – Gyan

Black Stars captain Asamoah Gyan has said, he is not fully fit for the competition, but ready to sacrifice for the nation.

Gyan told the media on Monday that, he had not recovered fully from the malaria that kept him away from the first game against Senegal but he will be compelled to play on Tuesday against South Africa because he is at the competition to die for Ghana.

Gyan missed the first game against Senegal due to malaria, but returned strongly against Algeria and fetched the winning goal for Ghana.

“I have to take a risk and play on Tuesday, because that is the reason why I am at the competition.

“As a leader you must be prepared to sacrifice for the nation. You must lead by example so that the rest will follow your footsteps.

“As an individual I have a strong mentality and that has kept me going all these while, so I have to go and fight for the nation.”

Gyan said his presence in games had always serve a great source of motivation for his colleagues and will not give up on any day.

Touching on the game against South Africa, Gyan said, though he is yet to see the level of performance exhibited by South Africa during the qualifiers, he is convinced they will lift up their performance against Ghana.

“I watched them during the qualifiers and they seem to be a very solid side. They are very skilful, tricky and play with a lot of speed.

“We know what they can do on any day so we are also preparing for them. We want to remain in the competition and the only way out is to beat them to progress.”

Gyan, however admitted that, past records played a role in football but stated that, they had to go into the game with a winning mentality.

“Yes past records can hunt you. They can have serious psychological effects on any team but we are rather guided by this.

“We want to do away with the record by winning tomorrow”.

Source: GNA