Player Ratings: Andre, Kudus shine, Jordan disappoints as Black Stars fall to Portugal

The Ayew brothers had contrasting fortunes in the West Africans’ defeat to Europeans in their World Cup opener

It was a contrasting game the Ayew brothers as while Andre scored, his younger brother Jordan was at fault for the two late goals that Ghana conceded in their 3-2 loss to Portugal on Thursday.

Ghana withstood the pressure especially in the first half but mistakes cost them dearly in the second stanza, seeing them miss out on an opportunity to grab a precious point against the Portuguese.

However, there were some bright spots from the Black Stars, particularly so from Mohammed Kudus, who showed great quality not just from his assist for Andre’s goal but also coming close to scoring on two occasions.

GOAL rates how the Black Stars performed against the Selecao.

Lawrence Ati-Zigi 6/10

With Jojo Wollacott injured, Ati-Zigi got an opportunity to showcase his skills in what was his 12th cap for Ghana and he was called into action early on when his save from a one-on-one with Cristiano Ronaldo prevented the Black Stars from conceding early.

That was the only save of note from the St Gallen goalkeeper who could not do much to stop Portugal’s two late goals.

Daniel Amartey 6/10

The Leicester City man played at the heart of Ghana’s backline and he had one goal-saving challenge in the first half.

Amartey also had one of Ghana’s eight shots when he fired wide from distance as the Black Stars went in search of a goal in the second half.

Mohammed Salisu 4/10

The Southampton defender was adjudged to have brought Cristiano Ronaldo down in the box for Portugal’s opening goal which the foward netted to make him the first man to score at five World Cups.

Salisu also lost his markers on a number of times and he could have done better for Portugal’s second goal.

Alexander Djiku 7/10

The Strasbourg defender was among the bright spots for Ghana in defence given he made a number of key tackles.

Djiku came to the rescues in the 12th minute when Ghana were on the backfoot and then prevented Cristiano Ronaldo from opening the scoring in the 31st minute.

The Portgual captain had the ball in the net but it was ruled out for a foul on Djiku in the box.

Alidu Seidu 4/10

The Clermont Foot right-back was preferred at wingback and escaped a red card after appearing to headbutt Joao Felix.

Seidu had just received Ghana’s third yellow but he did not seem to agree with the decision and went back to confront the Atletico Madrid for ‘going down easily.’

Defensively, he did not offer Ghana much while he only made one good run forward that yielded a cross which did not find its target.

Abdul-Rahman Baba 6/10

The Reading man played at left wingback and looked good going forward as it is from his cross that Osman Bukari scored Ghana’s second goal late on.

He, however, had a tough game until then and only got space to burst forward as Ghana started to attack late on.

Salis Abdul Samed 5/10

The 22-year-old debutant, who plays for Lens in Ligue 1, was called up for his combativeness but he showed little of that as Ghana struggled to keep possession.

He could not dictate the game as much as he would have like given the Black Stars played in their own half for most of the contest.

Thomas Partey 6/10

The Arsenal midfielder could not dictate the game like he does at club level given the limited possession.

Partey put in some good tackles but struggled especially when Otavio and Bernardo Silva roamed forward for Portugal and also failed to make driving runs foward as was expected.

Mohammed Kudus 8/10

Deployed on right wing of Ghana’s attack, Kudus found himself playing centrally when his team were out of possession and everything good going forward came from him.

Kudus came close in the 55th minute before sending another left-footed thunderbolt 10 minutes later and he made sure to end the game positively after teeing up Andre Ayew for the opening goal.

Andre Ayew 8/10

The captain, preferred on left wing in what was his 111th cap for Ghana, initially struggled to get going but his tenacity proved decisive at crucial moments.

Ayew was on hand to help out defensively when the Black Stars were on the back foot, which earned him a yellow card for a challenge from behind on Otavio. That was before his runs forward saw him rewarded with a goal when he scored the equaliser from Kudus’ pass.

Inaki Williams 3/10

Playing upfront in what was just his fourth cap since switching allegiance from Spain to Ghana in July, Williams was anonymous before he went off in the second half.

Even though he received little service, the runs in behind the defence that he is renowned for were missing and his frustrations saw him booked late on.

Williams cut a lonely figure upfront and coach Otto Addo will have to find a way of getting him more involved going forward.

Jordan Ayew 3/10

Came in as a late substitute for his brother Andre but easily gave away possession for Portugal’s third goal after losing his marker as the European side went on to score their second.

Antoine Semenyo 4/10

The Bristol City forward came on deep into injury time but had no impact with Portugal keeping the ball to see out the game.

Osman Bukari 7/10

He scored Ghana’s second goal from Baba Rahman’s cross after getting in good position in the box.

Bukari was introduced in the second half and caused the Portugal defence problems with his movement.

Daniel-Kofi Kyereh 3/10

The Freiburg midfielder came in for Abdul Samed but was not able to contribute a lot in a period when Ghana struggled to hold onto the ball.

Tariq Lamptey 3/10

The 22-year-old Brighton and Hove Albion right-back came on for Alidu Seidu but he had little impact and failed to deal with Joao Felix’s movement from his side moments before the Atletico Madrid forward scored.