Christian Atta Gyan (2 November 1978 – 29 December 2021) was a Ghanaian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a defender. He was known primarily for his time at Feyenoord where he won the 1998–99 Eredivisie and the 2001–02 UEFA Cup.

Club career

Gyan was born in

Tema Tema is a city on the Bight of Benin and Atlantic coast of Ghana. It is located east of the capital city; Accra, in the region of Greater Accra, and is the capital of the Tema Metropolitan District. As of 2013, Tema is the eleventh most p ...

, Ghana on 2 November 1978. Playing for Ghapoha, he signed for

Feyenoord Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Netherlands, Dutch professional association football, football club based in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football league system, Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the ...

in 1996. During the following season he moved on loan to Excelsior. After only a couple of months Feyenoord recalled the defender, and he made his debut for Feyenoord that same season. Gyan remained with Feyenoord for the next eight seasons. He was mainly used as a substitute. Gyan did play the 2002 UEFA Cup Final against Borussia Dortmund. He replaced the suspended

Brett Emerton Brett Michael Emerton (born 22 February 1979) is an Australian former professional Association football, footballer who played for Sydney Olympic FC, Sydney Olympic, Sydney FC, Feyenoord Rotterdam, Blackburn Rovers F.C., Blackburn Rovers and the ...

in the starting eleven. With Gyan, Feyenoord went on to beat Dortmund 3–2. While at Feyenoord Gyan also won a Dutch League Championship and a Johan Cruijff Schaal. Gyan was one of the most popular players at Feyenoord, always gaining a big applause from the fans when he started his warming-up. In June 2008 Gyan completed a successful trial for the Finnish club Turun Palloseura, and he signed a six-month deal with TPS on 3 June. In January 2009 Gyan signed for

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in the North East Wales, north-east of Wales. It lies between the Cambrian Mountains, Welsh mountains and the lower River Dee, Wales, Dee Valley, near the England–Wales border, borde ...

until the end of the 2008–09 season, but made only two appearances for the club in the

FA Trophy The Football Association Challenge Trophy, also known as the Isuzu FA Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after The Football Association (the FA) and competed by mainly National League ...

before being released at the end of the season. He signed a contract for RoPS in February 2010. In July, he got released by the club because of knee injury that happened in February. Gyan did not make any appearances for RoPS. He finished his career at amateur side RKSV Leonidas in Rotterdam.

International career

Gyan was part of the Ghana team that won the 1995 FIFA U-17 World Championship. Gyan played seven games at the

1997 FIFA World Youth Championship The 1997 FIFA World Youth Championship, known as the 1997 FIFA/Coca-Cola World Youth Championship for sponsorship purposes, was the 11th staging of the FIFA U-20 World Cup, FIFA World Youth Championship. It was held from 16 June to 5 July 1997 i ...

, where Ghana finished fourth. His full international debut, incidentally, came against the Netherlands. For the senior side he featured eight times between 1998 and 2001, including at the 2000 Africa Cup of Nations.

Personal life and death

Gyan was diagnosed with terminal cancer in November 2021. He died from the disease a month later on 29 December 2021, at the age of 43.Feyenoord-cultheld Christian Gyan op 43-jarige leeftijd overleden

Honours

Feyenoord *

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

: 2001–02 *

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; "Honour Division" or "Premier Division") is a professional association football league in the Netherlands and the highest level of the Dutch football league system. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start o ...

: 1998-99 *

Johan Cruyff Shield The Johan Cruyff Shield (, ) is a football trophy in the Netherlands named after Dutch footballer Johan Cruyff, also often referred to as the Dutch Super Cup. The winner is decided in one match only, played by the winner of the national footbal ...

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

References

External links

*
FIFA Player Statistics: Christian Gyan
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gyan, Christian 1978 births 2021 deaths Footballers from Tema Men's association football defenders Ghanaian men's footballers Ghana men's under-20 international footballers Ghana men's international footballers 2000 African Cup of Nations players Great Mariners F.C. players Excelsior Rotterdam players Feyenoord players Turun Palloseura footballers Rovaniemen Palloseura players UEFA Europa League–winning players Eredivisie players Eerste Divisie players Veikkausliiga players Wrexham A.F.C. players RKSV Leonidas players Ghanaian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Ghanaian expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Expatriate men's footballers in Finland Ghanaian expatriate sportspeople in Finland Expatriate men's footballers in Wales Ghanaian expatriate sportspeople in Wales