Neil Davidson
The Canadian Press
Monday, January 31, 2005
In a season filled with frustration and pain, Ryan Gyaki deserved something to celebrate.
The 19-year-old midfielder from Calgary tore abdominal muscles in the first game of the campaign with the Sheffield United reserves in England.
After at least two months out, he hurt his knee within two weeks of coming back. More niggling injuries followed.
"It's been a bit of a problem," he said by way of understatement. "This was a big season for me and so far I've hardly got to play any games because of injuries.
"I can't really say too much about it. It's just been unlucky. I haven't had a go at things."
Nearing full health, Gyaki was given his chance to shine wearing a Canadian shirt. Under-20 coach Dale Mitchell made the young Blade co-captain of his team and Gyaki returned the favour in Honduras by accounting for all of Canada's goals in a 2-1 win over Mexico and a 1-0 decision over Honduras.
The wins assured Canada of a berth in this summer's World Youth Championship in the Netherlands even before Sunday's 1-0 win over Jamaica at the CONCACAF qualifier, in which Gyaki made it a clean sweep by scoring once more.
Gyaki attributes the turnaround to hard work rather than good fortune. But he admits to having wondered when his unfortunate run was going to end.
"I was really thinking that things have got to change sooner or later because it hasn't been the best of seasons. So hopefully things will keep going as they are now."
As for his scoring exploits in Honduras, the young midfielder deflects praise to his teammates.
"That's very typical of the kind of kid he is," Mitchell said. "He's a hard-working kid, he's a good leader. That's why he's one of the captains within the team. He's a real team player and I think that's why everybody was so pleased for him that he got to be the hero on two occasions down here."
Gyaki still has some physical issues, the legacy of the abdominal injury.
"It caused quite a big problem, and I think I'm still suffering from it" he said. "I'm still having quite a bad pain in my leg, but our physio's brilliant and he (Canadian team trainer Eddie Cannon) sorts it out before every game. It hurts quite bad after the game."
The muscle tear healed, with rest, but other parts of his body suffered. A problem in the "core" area of the body can lead to other muscles trying to overcompensate.
"I wasn't running properly. My movement was off because of my abs. And then I just kept getting little injuries all over the place because I wasn't moving properly."
The good news is he is regaining his health -- and he has another year on his contract to impress in Sheffield.
Born in Toronto, he grew up in Calgary. A Sheffield United scout noticed him in Cuba while with a Canadian age-group team and he was invited to England some 2 1/2 years ago. He signed a week later.
Last season, the Sheffield United youth team was runner-up in England.
Sheffield United has not objected to his spending time with the Canadian side. In fact United applauds such duty, although the club's attitude can vary depending on the nature of the fixture list at home.
Gyaki loves living in England -- "a totally different experience" -- but tries to get back to Canada twice a year.
"You get more vacations than most jobs get, so I can't complain."
© The Calgary Herald 2005
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