In 2022, Gideon Mensah had the opportunity to represent Ghana at the World Cup, an experience which was made smoother by Andre Ayew.Heading into the tournament, Baba Rahman was the first choice left back and played the friendly against Switzerland as well as the first game at the World Cup against Portugal.After the Black Stars narrowly lost 3-2 in the opening group game, pressure mounted as the team needed a win against South Korea in the second game.As a result, Otto Addo made changes and Mensah was handed his World Cup debut - a move that came as a surprise to the WAFA graduate.In an interview with Flashscore, Mensah revealed his nerves ran very high ahead of kick-off given how momentous the occasion was."I remember during the warm-up, the captain Andre Ayew came to me," Mensah recalled. "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.'"Those words resonated deeply with Mensah, providing him with the reassurance he needed before stepping onto such a huge stage to represent his country. "That was something that really helped me a lot," he reflected. "After that speech, I forgot about everything else.