Former Ghana International Derek Boateng has called on Ghanaians to lay off Asamoah Gyan over criticism for his failed penalty kick against Uruguay that could have sent Ghana to semi finals of the 2010 World Cup.

Ghana was on the cusp of glory with just a penalty kick away from a first ever semi final appearance at the World Cup against Uruguay only for Asamoah Gyan to miss the decisive kick.

In the eyes of some Ghanaians, Gyan is a pantomime villain who blew away such great opportunity for Ghana.

The Black Stars will then go on and lose 5-4 as the usual penalty curse struck once again with Gyan being marked as the scapegoat.

Derrick Boateng was part of the Black Stars squad at the 2010 FIFA World Cup and believes it's unfair to criticize his former teammate for missing a penalty kick.

“I don’t know why Ghanaians still criticize Asamoah Gyan [on the penalty miss]. If we had won that game, you guys have no idea the kind of money we were going to make," he told Joy Sports.

"Do you think Gyan would intentionally miss the penalty? We would have made a lot of money and put Ghana in a different pedestal of football. You can also consider the name he would have made if he scored the penalty.

"People who understand football will not blame Asamoah Gyan because he did what he was supposed to do. Even after the miss, he stood up and played the first penalty in the shootout to show Ghanaians that he was the right person to play. During the first game against Serbia, he played and scored and he played another one and scored.

"He was scoring goals in the tournament as well. He was the leader in the frontline so he had the confidence to play the penalty. We all love him. People have to stop doing what they are doing.

"He has done a lot for the nation. It’s heartbreaking when you hear people saying things about him. They should even name a stand in a stadium after him but they won’t do it. People have so many short memories which is really bad," he added.