On Sunday, Andre Dede Ayew, the captain of Ghana's Black Stars, made Africa Cup of Nations history by becoming the third player to compete in all eight editions of the competition.
In the 62nd minute of Ghana's disappointing 1-2 loss to Cape Verde, he came on as a substitute. After Jamiro Monteiro scored for Cape Verde in the first half, Ayew came on as a substitute for Ransford-Yeboah Königsdörffer six minutes after Alexander Djiku leveled the score for Ghana. With this appearance, Ayew becomes the third player in AFCON history to have the most appearances, joining former Cameroonian winner Rigobert Song and Egyptian Ahmed Hassan.
Unfortunately, Ayew and the Black Stars' joy was cut short when the Blue Sharks scored a late goal by Garry Rodrigues to claim all three points. As a result, Ghana will have to deal with a poor start to their campaign. Even though he might not have gotten many starting chances leading up to the tournament, 33-year-old Ayew was eager to make a contribution.
"My priority is to either start or come off the bench in the Ivory Coast," he told reporters. "After that, we'll have to wait and watch. Given our disappointing exit from the 2022 Cup of Nations in the first round, it is critical that Ghana perform well in this tournament. Ayew still has an opportunity to cement his place in AFCON history, even though his team lost.
He is now tied for the record for most tournament goals scored with six, alongside fellow countryman Asamoah Gyan and African greats Kalusha Bwalya and Samuel Eto'o. He is on the verge of being the first player to score in seven tournaments.
On Thursday, in a pivotal Group B match, Ghana will play record-setting seven-time winners Egypt, an opponent they will be looking to redeem themselves against.
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