Ghana and Asamoah Gyan had planned it differently this time, but the result was still the same.
Penalties still haunted them Wednesday in a painful semifinal loss to Burkina Faso in a shootout at the African Cup of Nations.
Gyan had chosen not to take penalties at this African Cup after a string of crucial misses from the spot by the striker in recent tournaments, including in the quarterfinals of the World Cup and the Cup of Nations semifinals.
After his late mother asked him to give up penalty-taking duties shortly before she died, he respected her wishes, stood back and watched on.
But the outcome was ultimately as painful for the captain as he watched Isaac Vorsah, Emmanuel Clottey and Emmanuel Agyemang Badu miss in the shootout as Ghana missed out on another African title and extended its drought to at least 33 years.
''Definitely, we'll be down right now but we'll psyche ourselves up,'' Gyan said. ''As a captain, I have to go to the guys and psyche them up.''
It was Gyan who needed consoling three years ago when he missed a spot-kick in the dying seconds of extra time of a World Cup quarterfinal that denied Ghana history as the first African team to make the semifinals. Ghana went on to lose on penalties to Uruguay.
He also missed in the semifinals at the African Cup against Zambia 12 months ago, when the Zambians went on to the final and the title.
For 2013, Gyan had stepped down in favor of Wakaso Mubarak and it had worked for the Ghanaians - even in the early stages of the semifinal against Burkina Faso at Mbombela Stadium. Wakaso stroked home a 13th-minute penalty, his third successful penalty of the tournament, for an early lead for the Black Stars.
But it unraveled in another agonizing experience from the penalty spot for the Ghanaians.
Vorsah scuffed his penalty badly, Clottey also hit his kick past the left post and didn't even test the goalkeeper, and Agyemang Badu had his attempt saved by Daouda Diakite for the final, decisive miss.
Back near the halfway line, Gyan's agony played out as he looked on. Afterward, he was also forced to sit and listen - head in hands - to Burkina Faso's coach and captain talk about their victory as the teams' news conferences overlapped.
''We came here with a winning mentality,'' Gyan said. ''We came here to win this game to go to the final. We are really sad at the moment. It's normal. What else can I say?''
