West Ham United forward Mohammed Kudus completed the full 90 minutes of Ghana’s narrow 1-0 home defeat to Angola on Thursday.
In the first bout of 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying action, the Hammers’ No14 lined up from the start in Kumasi, alongside the likes of fellow Premier League stars Thomas Partey, Abdul Fatawu and Jordan Ayew, but couldn’t find a way through the stern away defence.
Though Ghana completed 18 shots across the 90 minutes, and enjoyed 58 per cent of the possession, it was Angola who made the vital breakthrough in the third minute of injury time at the end of the game, with Red Star Belgrade’s Felício Milson striking the decisive blow.
The result leaves the Black Stars bottom of Group F, ahead of an away clash against Niger - who were defeated 1-0 by Sudan in their first game - at 4pm BST on Monday 9 September.
What a start from this team 👏 #GAWA 💚 pic.twitter.com/Ekj5fOchuk
— Northern Ireland (@NorthernIreland) September 5, 2024
Young Irons forward Callum Marshall - who has started the domestic season brightly on loan at EFL League One side Huddersfield Town, notching two goals in five games in all competitions - played the first 57 minutes of Northern Ireland’s 2-0 victory over Luxembourg in their opening clash of the 2024/25 UEFA Nations League.
In front of a raucous crowd at Windsor Park, Northern Ireland burst out of the blocks and went in front in the eleventh minute through Paddy McNair, before Daniel Ballard notched what proved to be the winner just after the quarter-of-an-hour mark.
With the Green and White Army currently top of Group C3, Marshall will be hoping to further boost his country’s promotion bid when they travel to Bulgaria at 5pm BST on Sunday 8 September.
Finally, young goalkeeper Krisztián Hegyi was also in action on Thursday, for Hungary’s U21s. The 21-year-old - who is currently on loan at Scottish Premiership outfit Motherwell - started between the sticks in a 2-1 friendly defeat at home to Slovakia U21s.
