The Black Stars captain decided to abstain from taking penalty kicks  in honouring a pledge to his late mother following crucial misses against Uruguay in 2010 and Zambia in 2012.

Asamoah Gyan however  stepped up after a 5 year break and missed his kick on his return to penalty taking duties for Ghana in their 2-1 defeat to USA in a recent friendly much to the surprise of many Ghanaians.

Many thought it was a one-off but Gyan has explained in a recent interview that he has officially resumed penalty taking for the Stars.

Asked if he was going to continue kicking, Gyan said “definitely, because in my football career this is the only challenge for me right now, I think I have had a good career, I’ve had a successful career, everything that I want in the game, I’ve got it, so this is the only challenge that I need to erase and I know I’m gonna do it. I think it’s confirmed now, its official.”

“Right now, Andre [Dede Ayew] is scoring, Andre is the first penalty taker of the team and he knows it that I can take, so we have to decide on the field but right now, I have to erase that thing, people might disagree but we will see.”

“It is something that we need to learn. As I always say, I am strong mentally, I need to just step up.”

“In the American game, I wanted to break that jinx and it didn’t work out, it doesn’t mean I am done. Because I know how to do it,” he said.

By Daraja Mutari/Ghanaguardian,com