It is only the one who fetches water at the river side that breaks the pot. That is an age-old adage but in the morning after the Black Stars lost to the Chipolopolo of Zambia, my attention has been drawn to this other witty saying; that, if the person who fetches the water continuously breaks the pot, the water doesn’t get fetched. Both sayings aptly describe one person in the Black Stars team- Asamoah Gyan- who has with equal measure inspired and frustrated many Ghanaians with one moment of brilliance and another moment of heart break. As Ghana consoles itself with an insignificant third place match against Mali, the one name on the lips of Ghanaians on facebook, twitter, radio, TV is Asamoah Gyan. Yes, he has done it again! The Al Ain striker wasted another penalty kick and denied what many Ghanaians erroneously think is their birthright to a fifth Nations Cup glory. He instantly brought painful memories of the 2010 World Cup in which he single handedly qualified Ghana to the quarter final and criminally denied Ghanaians an historic semi-final with another penalty miss against Uruguay. But has it ever occurred to Ghanaians why the current Black Stars team all too often hands over the responsibility of penalty kicks to the man who painfully denied them a right to Africa’s first semi-final in the World Cup? It is not farfetched. Gyan is the best penalty taker in the team and that explains why at all occasions he elects himself to take the kick. It doesn’t mean that none of the team members cannot play. Any of them can and the reality is that once you elect yourself to take the kick, you can score or miss. That is what the penalty kick is about. It appears so easy and yet it is perhaps the difficult task in football. Just last week Lionel Messi, the current World Best Player, missed a penalty against Valencia in the Copa Del Rey semi-final clash. Last month or two, he missed another against Sevilla. It was the last kick of the game. It was 2-2 and he needed to score to close the gap on leaders Real Madrid; but he lost it. In between those two misses, Lionel Messi has scored from the spot on several occasions. It is same with Gyan. He has scored from the spot on many occasions and yet on several other occasions, especially when it mattered most, he has wasted them. That is penalty kick for you. A player can do everything right and still miss a penalty.