Kudus scores 2 in victory

AL RAYYAN, Qatar — Mohammed Kudus said there wasn’t much difference between the way Ghana played in its opening World Cup match against Portugal or its second game against South Korea.

Except the result, of course. Kudus scored twice, including the go-ahead goal after the South Koreans evened the match in the second half, and Ghana staved off elimination with a 3-2 victory on Monday.

Mohammed Salisu also scored for the Black Stars, who were disappointed after a close 3-2 opening loss to Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal and were in need of points against South Korea for a chance to reach the knockout round in Qatar.

“I think the game against Portugal was one of the best games you can have. The energy and the commitment from the whole team was good. So we approached this game the same way,” Kudus said. “We have the same mentality game after game after game, so we are going in the same direction with the same energy no matter who we play.”

Down 2-0, Cho Gue-sung scored both of South Korea’s goals about three minutes apart early in the second half to even the game at 2-2.

But Kudus’ low left-footed goal in the 68th minute sailed out of the reach of goalkeeper Kim Seunggyu to give the Black Stars back the lead. Ghana goalkeeper Lawrence Ati-Zigi preserved the victory with a leaping save off Cho’s attempt in stoppage time.

“We conceded goals a bit early in the game, and that forced us to play a chasingstyle game that wasn’t easy. After the first half, we vowed to keep trying until the end,” Cho said.

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