ASAMOAH GYAN, the Ghanaian forward who scored three goals at this World Cup, but missed a penalty to take the Black Stars into an historic appearance in the semi-finals, has been named as one of the stars in the running for the prestigious Golden Ball given to the best player at the showcase.

The big forward, who turns 25 on November 22 this year, plies his trade for French side Rennes but is favoured to move to England following his fine show at this World Cup.

Gyan led the Black Stars’ attack with distinction, usually playing as a lone striker that was feeding off a battery of midfielders, and scored twice, from penalties, as Ghana beat Serbia 1-0 in a group game and then drew 1-1 against Australia.

But his best moment at this World Cup came when he scored a beauty, which turned out to be the winner, as Ghana defeated the United States 2-1 — after extra-time – in an epic second round tie at the Royal Bafokeng Palace in Rustenberg. Showing incredible stamina, having spent the 90 minutes of regulation time leading the attack, he somehow found the pace he needed in extra-time to sneak in past his marker, the strength to keep the defender at bay and, crucially, the balance to position himself for the kill.

The volley that he struck, with his left foot, was as sweet as they will ever come and goalkeeper Tim Howard was given no chance as it flew past him and dipped into the nets.

Gyan, somehow, spoiled his dream show at this World Cup when he missed the penalty, to send Ghana into the semi-finals, with the last kick of the game against Uruguay.

Having been presented with the golden chance to make history, needing only to convert the penalty and send the Black Stars through, Gyan fell shot and sent his booming shot crashing against the crossbar.

It was a defining moment for African football and, as the Black Stars sank to their knees in disbelief, they couldn’t recover just in time to pass the test of the penalty shootout.

To his credit Gyan showed great qualities of a courageous star when he volunteered to take Ghana’s first penalty, under intense pressure after Diego Forlan had scored for Uruguay, and converted with ease.

But captain John Mensah and Dominic Adiyiah missed from the spot and Ghana crashed out 2-4 in the shootout.

Fifa, the world football controlling body who are in charge of organising the poll for the Golden Ball winner, announced yesterday that Gyan was one of the players in the running for the award. The Black Stars forward is the only African player in the running.

Journalists, accredited to cover this World Cup, now have the big task of choosing who will be crowned the best player at this tournament.

Four years ago the journalists gave the award to Zinedine Zidane, who had led France to the final in Germany with blinding performances, and although he was sent off in the grand match after headbutting an opponent, he still won the Golden Ball. "As is tradition at Fifa competitions, it is the accredited members of the media who will play the crucial role of selecting the most outstanding player of the 2010 Fifa World Cup, a distinction honoured with the coveted Adidas Golden Ball," the world football governing body announced yesterday. "Each accredited member of the media is entitled to select the top three players from a shortlist of candidates nominated by the Fifa Technical Study Group.

"A first-place vote is worth 5 points, a second-place vote is awarded 3 points and a third-place vote garners 1 point."

Gyan will battle it out with Forlan, who lit this World Cup playing a leading role in the Uruguay attack as they reached the semi-finals for the first time in 40 years, Andreas Iniesta, Lionel Messi, Mesut Oezil, Arjen Robben, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Wesley Sneijder, David Villa and Xavi.

"The total points will be tallied by Fifa at the end of the final match on Sunday. The winner will receive the Adidas Golden ball. The players coming in second and third place will receive the Adidas silver ball and Adidas bronze ball respectively," said Fifa.

"All votes must be submitted until the final whistle of the final match of the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa."

The 10 short-listed players feature five players who have managed to inspire their teams to the World Cup final at SoccerCity — Robben, Sneijder, Iniesta, Xavi and Villa.

The two Germans — Schweinsteiger and Oezil — and Uruguay’s Forlan saw their sides fall at the semi-final stage.

Argentine whizzkid Messi and Ghanaian forward Gyan were only able to inspire their countries to the quarter-final stage but it is a measure of their remarkable contribution, in those five games, that they have been named among the best players at this World Cup show.

Barcelona star Messi was the dominant figure during the group stages as he led Argentina to a clean sweep of their matches with victories over Nigeria, South Korea and Greece.

Although he didn’t score in any of the games, he was clearly the driving force in the team and his coach Diego Maradona famously claimed, at that stage, that no other player was playing to 40 percent of Messi’s level at this World Cup.

But there was a painful ending to the story as Messi and his team were crushed by the rampant Germans in a 0-4 defeat that shocked the world in the quarter-finals.

Robben started the World Cup campaign injured but he has really sparkled since coming back although the best player in this Dutch team has been Sneijder, who keeps being linked to Manchester United, and whom many feel should be given the World Footballer of the Year should the Dutch win tomorrow.

The little midfield dynamo was at the heart of Inter Milan’s success story last season where they won the Champions League, the domestic championship in Italy and the Italian Cup.

Having succeeded where Messi failed in the Champions League, and gone further than the Argentine whizzkid in this World Cup, it is reasonable that Sneijder should be getting all the support for his status as the best player in the world this year. But Spanish fans will argue that Xavi is the real maestro and the midfield battle at Soccer City tomorrow should present the world with a fitting close to this tournament.

Not surprisingly, no goalkeepers have been included on the shortlist after most of them struggled to adjust to the pace and swerve of the Jabulani ball being used here.

Incredibly, no Brazilian player is mentioned among the 10 best stars of this World Cup.