The news of the return of Asamoah Gyan to Black Stars business must be exciting to many, especially Coach Kwesi Appiah, who had had his charges exposed in the World Cup group qualifying away first leg match against the Chipolopolo of Zambia.
It was a crying shame seeing the Stars lose 1-0 in a game that the strikers were hopelessly wayward to make the absence of Gyan a gaping miss in the attack.
We felt homesick of him too, in spite of our disappointment over his unprecedented penalty miss at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
But as readers would recall, we made a case in this column recently that for the Black Stars to tick again in front of goal there would be the need for Coach Kwesi Appiah to have the trio of Gyan and the two local sensations, Emmanuel Baffour and Emmanuel Clottey.
Pairing Gyan and Clottey or Gyan and Baffour will be a dream attack for the Stars on any day as far as we are concerned.
We dare Kwesi Appiah to begin to try them and he surely cannot be disappointed as we relish the return of the Baby Jet after the short self-imposed leave from national duty.
But while we welcome Gyan back with open arms, we are not too comfortable with the decision to stay away from penalty kicks as a first choice taker. We think that such a decision must lie with the coach or whoever trains the team on penalty kicks during normal playing time or during shootouts.
It is our contention that to make this a condition for a return to the Stars does not sound well in our ears. It means that at any given time, it is Gyan who would have to dictate or determine whether or not to take a penalty and not the coach.
We find this to be a potential source of controversy between the player and the coach on any day that either of them thinks to the contrary. Not only that, we also view the decision not to take penalties as self-defeatist and a situation that can gradually kill the confidence of Gyan as lead striker of the team.
In our opinion, Asamoah Gyan should not shy away from doing what he knows best, regardless of what some of the fans say and the counsel from friends, family members to that effect.
Gyan couldn't have been the first nor the last person to miss a penalty at the world stage, we dare add.
Such outstanding stars as Diego Armando Maradona of Argentina and Roberto Baggio of Italy, among others, had on various occasions missed important kicks from the spot for their respective nations, but their football world at the national level never ended until age knocked them off the pinnacle.
A word of caution for Gyan, however, is that never must he take service to his country for granted as to quit and return at his own will.
Ghanaians may not find favour with him the next time around. And that could be disconcerting to him.
Welcome for good, Asamoah Gyan!
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