Mohammed Kudus, a West Ham United player who began the game, played the entire 90 minutes as Ghana fell to mexico 2-0 on Sunday, October 15.
After goals from Hirving Lozano and Uriel Antuna gave the South Americans a comfortable victory in the US, the Black Stars suffered their first loss under new boss and former Brighton coach Chris Hughton. Hughton’s team put forth a lacklustre effort as they continued to get ready for the Africa Cup of Nations event in Ivory Coast in January [SofaScore], and Ghanaian web publication Ghana Web (15 October) was disappointed with Kudus’ performance.
The media outlet gave the West Ham United summer acquisition a pitiful “5/10” grade and stated: “As Ghana’s playmaker, Kudus struggled with the timing of his passes, and he was successfully marked out by the Mexican team.
When Ghana lost control of the ball, he made less of an effort to press the opposition
Given Kudus’ extraordinary importance to Ghana and their future in football, it makes complete sense that his country was mostly unhappy with his performance.
The team had the opportunity to make a statement during the international match on Sunday as they prepared for the AFCON competition in January, but their performance raised more questions than it did answers.
Kudus won’t be pleased with his performance either, as he received the lowest average SofaScore rating of any player on the field (6.0/10), lost control of the ball 18 times, completed only 25% of his dribbles successfully, made no important passes and touched it just 36 times.
Hughton would have anticipated Kudus to take the game by the scruff of the neck from his best position behind the striker, but it wasn’t to be. Such stats are completely unheard of in Kudus’ game, and given his promising start to his West Ham United career thus far this season, it wasn’t to be.
Given Kudus’ calibre, experience, and character, he will be able to easily forget about this performance.
The burden of his entire country is undoubtedly on his shoulders for the tournament in January, but if there is one player capable of handling such responsibilities and performing at the same time, it is the £38 million man for the Hammers.
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