Mohammed Kudus must exact revenge on a Bayer Leverkusen star for what he did to him in West Ham’s first leg defeat.
The good thing about European knockout football is that all the way to the final you have two bites at the cherry.
West Ham were written off by most ahead of their Europa League quarter-final first leg at Bayer Leverkusen last Thursday night.
After 82 minutes some of those predictions looked very premature.
West Ham put in an ultra defensive display which has divided opinion among fans and journalists.
It nearly paid off until goals from substitutes Jonas Hofmann and Victor Boniface sealed a 2-0 win for the newly-crowned German champions.
But two-legged ties always offer a second chance.
Hammers get second chance against Leverkusen
And as unlikely as it might seem – especially without suspended duo Lucas Paqueta and Emerson Palmieri, we well as possibly Jarrod Bowen and Konstantinos Mavropanos too – West Ham do have a second go at it in front of their own fans.
With a clinical attacking performance, decent officials and a bit of luck there is nothing to say the Hammers cannot get a couple of goals against Leverkusen.
That – and keeping the Germans out at the other end – is exactly what they will need to take this tie to extra-time.
One player who gives West Ham real hope is Mohammed Kudus.
The star boy can win games of football on his own and is capable of scoring out of nothing.
Unfortunately for West Ham Kudus has not had his best games of late. Although some of that is down to the fact the Ghanaian keeps being moved into different positions.
The 23-year-old had a wonderful chance when Michail Antonio broke and teed him up for a strike from the edge of the box in the first half. But he did not catch hold of it and it rolled straight to the goalkeeper.
Clash pitted Nigeria and Ghana stars against one another
While 1-0 would not have been the worst result in the world for West Ham, Boniface’s goal in the 91st minute to make it 2-0 felt decisive.
Football is huge in Africa and so are the rivalries between certain countries. The biggest rivalry is that shared by Nigeria and Ghana.
The Black Stars are widely considered Nigeria’s primary rival as the two sides have met one another more than any other opponent, as well as being two of the most successful national teams in Africa.
Ghana flopped at AFCON, crashing out at the group stage despite the brilliant performances and goals of Kudus.
Nigeria made the final but lost to Ivory Coast with former Hammer Sebastien Haller getting a fairytale winner.
Kudus must exact revenge on Boniface for what he did
Nigeria had to make do without Boniface for the tournament after an injury sidelined him for a number of months.
Kudus and Boniface will meet again at the London Stadium on Thursday night.
And Kudus must exact revenge on the Bayer Leverkusen star for what he did to him in the West Ham defeat last week.
When Boniface headed home after Ben Johnson’s pathetic attempt to close down a cross – despite having “fresh legs” – he set off to celebrate.
The Nigerian – allegedly a summer target for the Hammers – knew exactly what he was doing.
He had started running towards the bench. But then he remembered that he wanted to goad his African rival Kudus.
So he turned and headed 40 yards in the other direction to take a seat on the advertising hoardings, mimicking Kudus’ iconic celebration.
Ironically Boniface slipped and nearly did himself an injury as he tried to mock West Ham’s number 14.
But he went ahead and did it anyway.
Brotherly banter or not, Kudus must make him pay
Speaking to Olt Sports after helping Leverkusen win the league on Sunday, Boniface said the celebration idea just came to him as he wheeled away.
That is what is known in east London as ‘taking a liberty’. But Boniface tried to play it down as brotherly African banter, saying: “Nigeria and Ghana are brothers so we ‘cook each other’.”
Regardless of the intentions it was a clear dig at Kudus – whether playful or not.
This is top level football in front of millions of people across the globe with African eyes also watching.
There’s pride, bragging rights and egos at stake here.
So the best response Kudus can give now is to channel any anger and energy from being goaded, into making Boniface pay on Thursday night.
Go out there, win the game for West Ham and make sure Boniface has a front row seat for his celebration.