The Crystal Palace striker hit a superb double against The Walia ibex of Ethiopia on Sunday afternoon to take Ghana to second in Group F as the 27-year old took his international goals tally to fourteen in his 51st cap.
It was undoubtedly one of the best Jordan Ayew performances since 2010 that he started playing for the national team.
Sundays’s game was a crucial affair as Kwesi Appiah’s team needed to win at all cost to boost qualification chances and the Black Stars responded to the task winning by 2-0 and both goals came from the feet of Jordan Ayew.
But Ayew still has more to do to improve upon his international scoring rate of 0.27 which is below par for a striker who has made 51 international appearances across eight years.
For instance Jordan now has more goals for Ghana than former international Junior Agogo (12 goals in 27 games) but Agogo owns a better scoring rate of 0.44.
The former Olympique de Marseille striker was in top form at the Hawassa International stadium producing a bold performance on Day 5 of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualification series.
The Premier League striker received a defense-splitting pass in the 3rd minute from right back Harrison Afful and maintained great composure in the box to put the ball at the far right bottom corner of goalkeeper Abed Mamos’s post.
Ayew continued to cause problems for the Ethiopian defence with his huge presence up front and in the 23rd minute when Emmanuel Boateng earned a penalty for the Black Stars it was the former Swansea City striker that stepped forward to score from the spot to realize a double to see off the home side.
But Ayew is still far off on the list of highest goalscorers for the Black Stars of Ghana even though the son of former Ghana captain Abedi Ayew still has more years ahead to add up to his tally.
According to Ghana’s goals record on Wikipedia, Asamoah Gyan is Ghana’s all time top goalscorer on 51 goals in 106 caps followed by Kwasi Owusu who scored 36 times for the Black Stars. Jordan’s father Abedi Ayew scored 33 goals for the national team as AFCON winner Edward Acquah has 30 goals to his name.
Anthony Yeboah – 29 goals, Karim Abdul Razak – 25 goals, Wilberforce Kwadwo Mfum – 24 goals, Osei Kofi – 21 goals and Sulley Muntari – 20 goals in 84 caps.
14 international goals is certainly a significant feat but Jordan Ayew must improve upon his efficiency if he is to be considered among the greatest Ghanaian strikers of all-time.
Gariba.
