The two West African footballers are grooming a beautiful brotherhood in the Netherlands weeks after becoming teammates
Nigeria and Ghana are usually bitter, eternal rivals in football, but Super Eagles’ Calvin Bassey and Black Stars’ Mohammed Kudus may have buckled that trend and found true friendship together.
Nigerian defender Calvin Bassey and Ghanaian midfielder Mohammed Kudus are growing into good friends if recent development in the Netherlands is anything to go by.
Only in March, Bassey and Kudus were sworn foes and fierce opponents in the two-legged ‘Jollof derby’ that denied the Super Eagles the chance to seal a place at the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Now teammates at Ajax Amsterdam, Bassey and Kudus have been integral to the Dutch champions’ perfect winning run so far this term.
Kudus has made five appearances – all from the bench – while Bassey has started three games as AFC Ajax have won each of their five Eredivisie games.
Ajax’s most recent victory in the league at the weekend was their 4-0 home win over Cambuur – a game where Kudus netted his first goal of the season and the hosts’ fourth of the encounter.
Notably, Bassey assisted that strike, sending a one-time low cross into the box for the Ghanaian ace to slot home from close range in the 64th minute.
The duo combined yet again on Wednesday night for Kudus to score in Ajax’s 4-0 defeat of Glasgow Rangers in the UEFA Champions League group stage opener.
It was Bassey’s first assist on his debut in Europe’s premier club competition, and it set up Kudus to score his first-ever UCL goal. The former Nordsjælland youngster joined Ajax in 2020.
A few hours after the game, Bassey took to his Twitter account to express his delight at taking his first Champions League step, especially against his former club, Rangers.
The 22-year-old wrote: “God is great. Special night for me yesterday. Good to get the win and was nice to see so many familiar faces.”
https://twitter.com/CalvinBassey/status/1567841538704654337
Shortly after, Kudus reacted to the comment by saying, “My guy” while adding a chain sign to indicate a connection.
Bassey responded quickly, tagging the midfielder as “Star boy”.
https://twitter.com/CalvinBassey/status/1567853810093023236
The light-hearted exchange between the two Ajax stars has drawn dozens of reactions from fans on Twitter.
— Marc Geschwind (@MarcGeschwind) September 8, 2022
A genuine Baller!!! A genuinely nice guy!!! Playing for a genuine team who are a class apart when it comes to promoting youth, style and philosophy on the beautiful game. But you done us dirty last night. I’m still hurting big man.
— Leg-end (@1coops) September 8, 2022
Ajax manager Alfred Schreuder will hope for more cooperation and effectiveness from his two West African stars when the champions host Heerenveen at the Johan Cruyff Arena on Saturday.
