Mohammed Kudus: West Ham United Star Scores Debut AFCON Goal as Ghana Lead Egypt

• Mohammed Kudus has netted a brace on his AFCON debut
• The Black Stars were held to a 2-2 draw by Egypt in Abidjan
• Ghana will next face Mozambique at the Africa Cup of Nations

West Ham United forward Mohammed Kudus scored a brace on his Africa Cup of Nations debut to secure Ghana a point in their Group B headliner against Egypt on Thursday.

The 23-year-old twice gave Ghana the lead before costly mistakes from his teammates ended with the two teams sharing the spoils at the Félix Houphouët-Boigny stadium in Abidjan.

Before the game, Kudus' fitness was a huge concern for Ghana as he had to be assessed in the last 24 hours to be declared ready for the match.

However, coach Chris Hughton handed the ex-Ajax star a starting role, a decision which seems to have paid off for the Black Stars.

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Kudus scored the opener after finding space between a sea of Egypt players to fire past Mohamed El Shenawy.

However, the Pharoahs levelled after the break through Mohamed Mustafa but the West Ham United star responded a minute later with a lovely strike.

Ghana's celebrations lasted for only three minutes as Egypt pounced on another mistake to level through Omar Marmoush.

Kudus was named the Man of the Match after his stellar display on his AFCON debut.

Egypt coach Rui Vitoria eager to face Kudus

Earlier, Sports Brief reported that Egypt coach Rui Vitoria wants to see Mohammed Kudus play against his side at the Africa Cup of Nations.

Mohammed Kudus scored twice as Ghana shared the spoils with the seven-time African champions in Abidjan.

The Black Stars, who lost their first match to Cape Verde will now face Mozambique in their final group game with a place in the knockout stage at stake.

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Salah suffers injury in Ghana draw

Sports Brief also reported that Mohamed Salah has been forced off in the game between Ghana and Egypt at the Africa Cup of Nations in Cote d'Ivoire.

The talismanic forward had been quiet in the game before signaling the technical team of the Pharaohs for him to be substituted due to a hamstring injury. He was replaced by Mohamed Fathi.

Moments before leaving the pitch, West Ham United star Mohammed Kudus gave the Black Stars the lead at the stroke of half-time.