Premier League trio could make early AFCON exit after Chris Hughton's side loses
Premier League clubs Bournemouth, Crystal Palace and West Ham United could be about to welcome back some of their Africa Cup of Nations stars earlier than anticipated after Ghana's late defeat against Cape Verde.
Ghana suffered an early exit in the previous AFCON tournament after being stunned by minnows Comoros, but were hoping to avoid a repeat after appointing former Brighton boss Chris Hughton as manager. They got off to the worst possible start, though, with a defensive mix-up allowing Cape Verde's Garry Rodrigues to score a last-minute winner.
Palace's experienced forward Jordan Ayew started the game, as did Bournemouth's London-born frontman Antoine Semenyo, with West Ham star Mohammed Kudus missing out through injury. Hughton's men got themselves on level terms after going behind at the break, but were caught out late on to leave themselves with an uphill task.
Already without Arsenal's Thomas Partey following his recent injury problems, the Black Stars take on Mohamed Salah and Egypt in their next group game. If they lose that, their fate could be out of their hands going into the closing group game against Mozambique.
Results haven't been the best since Hughton, the former technical advisor, took over coaching duties in 2023. After booking their place at AFCON, the Black Stars have played seven matches - winning two, drawing one and losing four.
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Things continued to go poorly in the tournament opener as Jamiro Monteiro put away a rebound in Abidjan. Ghana thought they had a leveller at the break, only for a VAR check to rule out Majeed Ashimeru's blast after a team-mate had strayed offside.
Centre-back Alexander Djiku eventually equalised, and Hughton threw on the likes of Andre Ayew and Inaki WIlliams in search of a winner. They couldn't find it, though, and Cape Verde - with former Manchester United man Bebe among their ranks - caught them cold through substitute Rodrigues.
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Antoine Semenyo was among the Ghana stars beaten by Cape Verde (AFP via Getty Images)"It puts ourself in not a good position," Hughton told reporters after the result. "It's a game we wanted to get something from, and the hard part is that even a draw is a result - particularly when you see Egypt drawing today.
"What we didn't want, and couldn't afford, was to lose the game. We have no choice but to be better against Egypt and to make sure we pick up a good result."
Earlier in the day, Egypt had needed a late penalty from Mohamed Salah to rescue a draw against Mozambique. Mostafa Mohamed had put Rui Vitoria's side in front, but quickfire goals from Witi and Cledio had turned the game on its head before the Liverpool man levelled from the spot in second-half stoppage-time.
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