While there have never been any major issues performance wise with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang at club level, the striker’s history with his national team has been checkered, to the point where he was thinking about international retirement.
Rejecting call-ups in the past, the Arsenal star’s aura has been somewhat tainted back in Gabon, but returning to the set-up this time around, the 30-year-old is determined to change that.
He told AFP after the 1-0 friendly win (he scored the only goal with a penalty) against Burkina Faso on Thursday evening, relayed by Africa Top Sports: “I’m vengeful. Things haven’t gone well lately. I want to change this image of me that I might have with the national team. I would rather show another side as a player in terms of performances”.
For Gabon, all they really want is to see some semblance of the Aubameyang that turns out week in, week out at the Emirates, even if the level of players around him is admittedly lower than at Arsenal, despite scoring 20 goals in 52 caps at international level.
And now that he’s in the mood for revenge, spirits appear to have been lifted.
So far this season, the forward has found the back of the net eight times with the Gunners in all competitions, doing so over 10 appearances.
