Gideon Mensah has praised Andre Ayew’s guidance during his World Cup debut against South Korea in Qatar, describing Ayew’s advice as crucial to his confidence on the big stage.
The left-back started on the bench in Ghana’s opening match against Portugal but was called up for their second game against South Korea. Reflecting on the experience, Mensah admitted he was initially anxious during the warm-up.
“I remember during the warm-up, the captain Andre Ayew came to me,” Mensah recalled in an interview with Flashscore. “It was like head to head; his head was right in front of my forehead. He said, ‘Listen, you’ve been waiting for this. This is the moment where you need to show everybody’s watching you. You can’t make mistakes—you can’t let them down.'”
Ayew’s words of encouragement helped settle Mensah’s nerves, and he went on to deliver a strong performance, contributing to Ghana’s thrilling 3-2 victory that kept their qualification hopes alive. However, those hopes were ultimately dashed after a 2-0 loss to Uruguay.
Mensah, now a regular for the Black Stars with 19 appearances since his debut in 2019, has continued to build on that experience and is valued for his role in the team.
