'Frustrated the way Ghana lost to Sudan' - Ikpeba blasts Kudus for slapping Tottenham defender

Former African Footballer of the Year, Victor Ikpeba has slammed Ghana's Black Stars dazzler Mohammed Kudus for losing his cool during the second half of West Ham United's 4-1 loss to Tottenham Hotspur in a Premier League encounter at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday, October 19.

Kudus lashed out to Micky van de Ven during the closing stages of the contest and was initially shown a yellow card for seemingly kicking the Dutch defender while competing for the ball, before slapping him during the resulting melee.

The referee's decision was overruled after a VAR review, leading to Kudus' expulsion from the game.

The former Ajax Amsterdam sensation had a bad time during the recently concluded international break, as he was part of the Ghana squad that surprisingly lost 2-0 to Sudan in a 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier, a result that sees their qualification hopes hanging by a thread, with just two points from four games. 

Ikpeba reckons that Kudus was not in the right state of mind after Ghana's disappointing performances in the two matches against Sudan and took out his frustration on Micky van de Ven.

Speaking on SuperSport's Monday Night Football, monitored by allngeriasoccer.com, the former Monaco and Borussia Dortmund forward explained: "He was frustrated especially the way they lost against Sudan.

"If you look at social media, he made a long statement to apologize for what happened, the manner they lost against Sudan.

"His reaction is very poor from a very talented Ghanaian. When players are being criticized playing for their national teams, it gets into their head so he lost his cool with the frustration from the Ghana game against Sudan. Nobody saw Ghana losing against Sudan.

"A lot of things in his head, coming two, three days from a game that expectation was high for them to beat the Sudanese. That frustration he took into this game."

Following his red card for violent conduct, Kudus is likely to serve a ban of no fewer than three matches.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel 

Photo Credit: ghanafa.org

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