Kudus Mohammed, a Ghanaian teenage midfielder, scored as Ajax hammered Rangers in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday night at Amsterdam Arena.
Since Alfred Schreuder took over as manager of Ajax, the midfielder has made his first appearance. He fought for playing time at the Dutch club, which nearly led to a move to Everton in the English Premier League.
The Ajax manager ultimately chose to start the Ghanaian playmaker for Wednesday’s Champions League group opener against Rangers, and he served as a de facto striker for Alfred Schreuder’s club.
He got the third goal for his side in the first half, putting up a superb performance as he statistically excelled, for which he eventually won the Most Valuable Player award after referee Tobias Stieler had ended the game at Amsterdam Arena.
Before scoring, he provided an assist in the first half, demonstrating why he deserves to start in the squad going forward.
He could brag about the following numbers at the conclusion of the first half: One opportunity was generated, 15 passes were attempted, 15 passes were completed, 2 takeaways were attempted, 2 takeaways were won, 1 assist, 1 shot, and a goal was scored.
After his performance on Wednesday, the Ghanaian player became the first player since Serge Gnabry in 2020 against Barcelona to score a goal, assist another player in scoring a goal, and make no errors in passing in a Champions League competition.
In a press conference after the game, he was very happy about his new role, which had been assigned to him in the opening Champions League game. He said, “I’m satisfied and I’m grateful to God. We all know what happened in my first Champions League game against Liverpool [Kudus suffered a serious injury]. I’m glad it was a lot more positive today. The most important thing is that we won.”
He stressed the point that he had wanted to score more goals in his new role under the coach at Ajax, “It’s not my natural position, but I liked it. 100 percent of People can complain about it, but I prefer to stay positive. I was hungry for more, but these 3 points are the most important.”
