DUBAI // Asamoah Gyan says he is determined to end his injury nightmare and prove at Al Ahli that he remains an elite-level striker.
The Ghana captain, currently on a season-long loan from China’s Shanghai SIPG, has endured a difficult time since returning to the UAE last August.
A series of niggling injuries has restricted Gyan, 31, to only eight starts for the Arabian Gulf League champions in all competitions, with a further seven appearances coming as a substitute – a record not helped by his Africa Cup of Nations commitments earlier this year.
Gyan has scored six goals thus far, a disappointing return given that he found the net 128 times during four trophy-laden years at Al Ain between 2011 and 2015.
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■ Makhete Diop: Striker praises Al Ahli's 'never give up' attitude
■ Report: Al Ahli snatch late win over Al Jazira to keep title race alive
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The lack of form and fitness has attracted criticism from Ahli’s fans and sections of the media, but Gyan insists he is focused solely on putting together a prolonged run of matches. Should he achieve that, he remains confident the goals will come.
“It happens,” Gyan said. “Sometimes when things go wrong, people will talk, when things go right people will talk. I’ve been in this game for almost 15 years so I know how it works. It doesn’t affect me at all. I’m trying to fight with myself because a fit Asamoah Gyan knows what he can do on the pitch.
“I’ve been in very difficult situation in the past nine months, but I’m still trying to make sure I get back to my normal fitness. Definitely I’m going to get it. I don’t predict, but I believe I’m going to get there.
“What is important is that I’m on the pitch. When I’m playing there are many opportunities: I can head, I can shoot, I’m blessed to have this kind of quality. When I’m on the pitch I know what I can do. The most important thing is to stay fit. That is what I’m praying for every time.”
Gyan suffered another injury setback last week, when he lasted 24 minutes of the Asian Champions League group match against Lokomotiv in Uzbekistan. There, he twisted his ankle, but recovered in time to play a part, as substitute, in Ahli’s crucial 2-1 victory against leaders Al Jazira in the Arabian Gulf League on Saturday. In fact, it was Gyan’s mis-hit shot that set up Everton Ribeiro for the winner.
“Yeah, it’s very frustrating,” he said. “And sometimes I see some criticism here and there, but they don’t know what is going on. People say things that they don’t normally have to say. I try to sacrifice myself.
“Even [against Jazira] I was playing with pain, but nobody knew. It’s one of those things. I have to just get back to my scoring form. Even sometimes when you don’t play and when you score it changes everything as a striker. So I’m just trying to look sharper and get back to my old Asamoah Gyan.”
Asked if he believes he has time to do that this season, Gyan replied: “Definitely, because I have two and a half months to go. I’m just praying to God that I can stay fit. It’s been difficult for me, I haven’t had a pre-season camp with the team for a long time and I think this is what I’m lacking right now. But from next season I’m going to go for pre-season and prepare well for my body to stay active.”
jmcauley@thenational.ae
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Will the pound fall to parity with the dollar?
The idea of pound parity now seems less far-fetched as the risk grows that Britain may split away from the European Union without a deal.
Rupert Harrison, a fund manager at BlackRock, sees the risk of it falling to trade level with the dollar on a no-deal Brexit. The view echoes Morgan Stanley’s recent forecast that the currency can plunge toward $1 (Dh3.67) on such an outcome. That isn’t the majority view yet – a Bloomberg survey this month estimated the pound will slide to $1.10 should the UK exit the bloc without an agreement.
New Prime Minister Boris Johnson has repeatedly said that Britain will leave the EU on the October 31 deadline with or without an agreement, fuelling concern the nation is headed for a disorderly departure and fanning pessimism toward the pound. Sterling has fallen more than 7 per cent in the past three months, the worst performance among major developed-market currencies.
“The pound is at a much lower level now but I still think a no-deal exit would lead to significant volatility and we could be testing parity on a really bad outcome,” said Mr Harrison, who manages more than $10 billion in assets at BlackRock. “We will see this game of chicken continue through August and that’s likely negative for sterling,” he said about the deadlocked Brexit talks.
The pound fell 0.8 per cent to $1.2033 on Friday, its weakest closing level since the 1980s, after a report on the second quarter showed the UK economy shrank for the first time in six years. The data means it is likely the Bank of England will cut interest rates, according to Mizuho Bank.
The BOE said in November that the currency could fall even below $1 in an analysis on possible worst-case Brexit scenarios. Options-based calculations showed around a 6.4 per cent chance of pound-dollar parity in the next one year, markedly higher than 0.2 per cent in early March when prospects of a no-deal outcome were seemingly off the table.
Bloomberg
