Jordan Ayew upbeat ahead of the must-win Egypt game

Black Stars forward Jordan Ayew has remained positive about the team’s prospects despite a poor start to AFCON 2023. The Crystal Palace star said the team is fired up for the crucial encounter against the Pharaohs of Egypt who themselves also need the points.

Speaking during the press conference ahead of the game on Thursday, Ayew admitted that the team put itself in this difficult position by failing to take opportunities from the first game. A dreadful performance on Sunday evening has left the team staring at an early exit from the tournament in as many attempts.

“Tomorrow is going to be a tough game, and the boys are ready. We put ourselves in a difficult position, and we’ll fight to put in a better performance,” JordanAyew stated.

He then added, “I am sure tomorrow we will all have something to smile about after the game,” expressing his optimism of a positive result against the seven-time champions.

Touching on fears of an early exit, Ayew responded to reporters asking if his generation would be considered a failure if they failed to get out of the group. He said, there is still much to play for and critics should wait till the final result before coming out to criticise.

“If by adventure you fail to win tomorrow and crash out of the group again, will you consider your generation of players as having failed Ghana?” a journalist asked. “Are we disqualified yet? We are not. When we are disqualified, then you can speak,” Jordan Ayew responded.

Ayew played until the second half of added time when he was substituted for Osman Bukari. The Crystal Palace attacker contributed by crossing the corner that Alexander Djiku headed in for Ghana’s equalizer. However, that was not enough as Cape Verde left it late to break the hearts of Ghanaians with a later goal following a defensive mishap.

Ghana will take on Egypt in the second group game on Thursday at 8 PM GMT before squaring off with Mozambique four days later to round up the group stages.