Mohammed Kudus says Andre Ayew’s early penalty miss was not the reason Ghana suffered another defeat at the hands of Uruguay on Friday.
Otto Addo and his charges were hoping to secure a spot at the knockout stage of the 2022 World Cup and needed a draw against the South American side ahead of the game.
The Black Stars were rewarded with a penalty in the 21st minute when Uruguay goalkeeper Sergio Rochet brought down Mohammed Kudus but Andre Ayew, who is the skipper for the side stepped up and saw his kick saved.
Following the miss, Uruguay scored two quick goals with Luis Suarez setting up Giorgian De Arrascaeta for both goals.
Uruguay held on to clinch all three points but both countries crashed out of the Qatar World Cup.
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Speaking after the painful exit, the 22-year-old Ajax star refused to dwell on the inability of his skipper to make the penalty he won count.
“I don’t think the penalty miss by Andre Ayew was the key moment in the match. The easiest thing we can do is to blame one person,” the playmaker said.
“In the second half, I also got chances that I could have scored. It qualified as a penalty, too. We all had chances to have an effect on the game, so I don’t really think the penalty had an effect on the whole performance.”
“Andre is a great leader and a great captain. After the penalty miss, he was still in the game and stood up for the team like everyone did but the result went the other way so we learn from it and stay positive,” he added.
The miss by Andre Ayew makes Ghana the first country to fail to convert two penalties against a single opponent in World Cup history.
In the bitter defeat to the Uruguayans in South Africa in 2010, Asamoah Gyan struck the upright in extra time, and now Ayew.
Ghana exited the tournament with just three points.