Sunderland striker Asamoah Gyan has admitted that he is not "mentally" capable of continuing to play for national side Ghana.
The 26-year-old, who is on loan from the Black Cats to United Arab Emirates side Al-Ain, confirmed his retirement from international football, which was announced by the Ghana Football Association last week.
Gyan wrote on Twitter: "Firstly it's important that I express my sincere apologies to my country.I never intended to make a decision like this early on in my career.
"Psychologically I am down. As you can imagine It's been very hard for me mentally to miss two important successive penalties for my country and because of this, a break to recoup my thoughts and emotions will aid me to come back bigger and mentally stronger.
"I never fully recovered from 2010 World cup and now 2012 Afcon. I want my country to know I love playing for them and I wouldn't be who I am without them."
The GFA claimed that the frontman's decision to step down from international duty was due to "verbal abuse".
Danielle Joynson
