AFCON 2023: “It was an easy win; silly mistakes and lack of concentration cost us” – Frustrated Kudus Mohammed laments

Kudus Mohammed has lashed out at his Black Stars teammates for their ‘silly mistakes’ and ‘lack of concentration’ which he says has cost the team in their Africa Cup of Nations campaign in Côte d’Ivoire.

The Black Stars are on the brink of exiting the competition at the group stages for the second consecutive tournament, following an embarrassing 2-2 draw in their last group game against Mozambique in Abidjan on Monday night.

Ghana raced to a 2-0 lead, thanks to Jordan Ayew’s two penalties which he expertly converted.

But the Black Stars conceded two late goals in injury time, one through a penalty for an Andre Ayew handball in the 91st minute, and the other through a header from a corner which goalkeeper Richard Ofori inexplicably conceded.

In the stars’ second group game against Egypt, two individual errors from Inaki Williams and Osman Bukari undid Kudus’ work, with the West Ham man having scored a brace. The game ended 2-2.

In Ghana’s first game against Cape Verde, the Islanders’ winning goal came from a mix up in communication between defender Mohammed Salisu and goalkeeper Richard Ofori, which allowed Garry Rodrigues to pounce.

The results have left Ghana staring at another group stage exit, having finished 3rd in their group with only two points.

Kudus, who was named man of the match and uncontrollably in tears at the post-match press conference, said the players dug their own grave.

“In games like this, it’s just small margins, the little things. Keep your focus throughout the whole game. We gave away two cheap goals; against Egypt the same thing. We just lost our concentration in the last minute of the game.

“Today was an easy win for us. Just keep it like that till the end of the game. We were just too sloppy, two silly mistakes. This game was too easy,” he said while wiping tears from his face.

DISCLAIMER: The Views, Comments, Opinions, Contributions and Statements made by Readers and Contributors on this platform do not necessarily represent the views or policy of Multimedia Group Limited.