Ghana legend Asamoah Gyan has shared how the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany propelled his career from a Serie B player to becoming the second highest paid player at Udinese.
Gyan returned from the tournament as one of the revelations of the competition, helping debutants Ghana to the round of 16 at their first attempt on the global stage.
The former Ghana captain scored in the 2-0 victory against Czech Republic and also starred in games against Italy and Brazil.
His stocks rose after the tournament and was close to joining Lokomotiv Moscow in Russia, but Udinese gave the Ghanaian forward an improved offer allowing him to stay.
“It really changed me, totally, because playing in the Serie B, after the World Cup, I was a World Cup material. I had three years left with Udinese so they had to call me back because I did so well in the World Cup and they felt now I can compete in the Serie A,” he told 3 Sports.
“And that time, there were a lot of teams who wanted my signature but the concrete one was Lokomotiv Moscow. It was a huge contract offer, I said yes, so I was going to pursue that deal so when I came, Juventus wanted to sign Iaquinta from Udinese but Udinese did not let me go.
“They had to change my contract that I came with. At that young age, my contract was small pay. So I became the second highest player at Udinese after Di Natale.”
Gyan went on to become Africa’s top-scorer at the World Cup in three tournament, scoring six goals for Ghana.
Source: Ghana Soccer Net
