West Ham ace, Mo Kudus, is seeing his 2024/25 season go from bad to worse, with his late penalty miss for Ghana ensuring that his country haven’t qualified for AFCON 2025.
The 24-year-old, who would cost £85m for interested parties Liverpool and Arsenal (Empire of the Kop), has been under pressure during the current campaign for a series of under-par performances.
Mo Kudus booed by his own supporters
He’s even been linked with a move to Saudi Arabia in order to get away from the London Stadium.
His current state of mind is likely to be questioned too, after he missed a penalty for Ghana in the 96th minute of their AFCON qualifier against Niger.
Ghana fans chanting “away” as Kudus steps to take a penalty vs Niger. The fans celebrate as he missed.
Season is getting worse and worse for him… pic.twitter.com/3mxGjsZZBy
— Central (@WestHam_Central) November 19, 2024
It was the final act of the match and it ensured that Ghana would miss out on going to the prestigious tournament in the new year.
Video shows how the Ghanaian supporters even took to abusing Kudus as he stepped up to take the spot-kick.
Coming so soon after he was banned for five games for violent conduct, after an incident which took place in West Ham’s Premier League game against Tottenham Hotspur, has seen things plunge to a new low for the player.
Since signing from Ajax, Kudus had cemented himself as one of the Hammers go-to players, thanks to his creativity and dynamism, however, under Julen Lopetegui – whose tactics have often left a lot to be desired – he’s struggled.
West Ham as a unit haven’t really got going either, and ahead of this weekend’s matches they find themselves in 14th position with just 12 points.
When Kudus is allowed to pull on the jersey again, his head coach will want a player whose head is in the game, but the attacking midfielder looks anything but focused at the moment.