Former Black Stars captain, Asamoah Gyan, has lauded the impact of Andre Ayew for Ghana following the team's first game at the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Ayew found the back of the net in the Black Stars' 2-3 defeat to Portugal in their Group H opener before being taken off prior to the restart with Jordan Ayew taking his place.

Ayew was on the end of a Mohammed Kudus pass to equalise after Cristiano Ronaldo's goal from the spot before goals from Joao Felix, Rafael Leao and Osman Bukari made sure the game ended 3-2.

Speaking as a pundit on Supersport, Gyan described Ayew as a big game player considering his goalscoring statistics for the national team.

"I think he is the man for the big occasions. 24 goals and he's not even a centre-forward, I think that is impressive," he said.

With the goal against Portugal, the Al-Sadd forward has now scored three goals for Ghana at the World Cup and would look to add to his tally when Ghana play South Korea and Uruguay in their subsequent games.