Unless something dramatic happens between now and say the next six years, it is perhaps safe to say Andre Ayew and younger brother Jordan Ayew will have a hard time matching the exploits of their illustrious father Abedi Ayew Pele’s.

The statement above might sound harsh and extreme in the case of Andre who has been in good form prior to his move to West Ham this season. Impressive campaigns at Marseille and Swansea got West Ham to shell out 20 million Pounds Sterling for the 2011 BBC African Footballer of the Year.

For Jordan, well, let’s just say the world is still waiting for him to grow out of the “potential” tag he has had.  For oldest brother Rahim Ayew, his career is virtually over with over a year of non active football under his belt. After glittering youth careers that were dotted with stints at Marseille’s Academy, neither brother has replicated the same kind of success at the pros.

No man they say is an island likewise the younger Ayews find themselves among a host of sons who have not lived up to their father’s careers. Jordi Cryuff (son of Johan Cryuff), Stefan Beckanbauer (son of Franz Beckanbauer) jump out of a host of names that fall in this category.

Ghana’s senior national football team, the Black Stars take on the rest of Africa’s elite at this year’s AFCON Tournament beginning with Uganda in a few hours and with it comes the challenge to end the country’s 35 year wait for a title.

Andre and Jordan are central figures in the Stars quest for glory but both Ayews head into the biannual event in the best shape. In reality, both players need a big performance in Gabon to lighten up their CV's once again. Following his club record move from Swansea to West Ham, the first half of Andre’s 2016-2017 campaign with the hammers has not gone to plan.

Exiting with an injury just 35 minutes into his debut against Chelsea put him out of action for almost eight weeks. His return has also not gone exactly according to plan either with the energetic winger playing just six games and scoring a goal.

The goal, ironically came against Swansea at his old stomping ground. Andre’s underwhelming start to life in London was summed up a few weeks before heading to the United Arab Emirates to camp with his national teammates in a league game against Manchester United.

Ayew came on in the final minutes to see out the Hammers 0-2 loss to United. Ironically, these were the kind of games Ayew was brought to feature prominently in but circumstances have made it plausible to have Manuel Lanzini and Soufiane Feghouli start ahead of Andre and Enner Valencia in the West Ham setup.

His performances haven’t been the best either for the four time African Champions with Ayew looking sluggish and out of shape in a Russia 2018 World Cup game against Egypt that Ghana lost 0-2 in Alexandria recently. Jordan’s situation looks grim than his older brother as the youngest Ayew brother is faring worse.

Showing flashes in his debut season for struggling Aston Villa (scored seven goals in 27 appearances) proved not enough to save the club from falling to English football’s second tier. Matters haven’t improved much in the English Championship despite playing against inferior opponents as the secondary striker has bagged four goals in 17 games this season.

One area he has improved thus far in the season has been helping his teammates score goals with the 25 year old registering four assists thus far in the campaign. Leading Ghana’s attack in Asamoah Gyan’s stead in that Egypt game, Jordan was a horror show for the Black Stars and duly ranked as Ghana’s worst player in several player ratings.

Rather than making up for his inept offensive production on the night by pulling his weight on the defensive side, he showed his Mesut Ozil side by strutting around the pitch. Sure, goalkeeper Razak Braimah should have done better to prevent Egypt’s second game but the Stars general performance wasn’t that bad considering better performance from guys in other departments-particularly the midfield- deserved far more than a loss. However, a blunt attacking lineup of Andre, Jordan and Christian Atsu rained down on such positive impetus.

The Stars game against Uganda represents a fresh start for the team to heal its deep self inflicted wounds and the entire nation will be hoping for nothing but the trophy after several years of coming up just short in previous editions.

As a team, the Stars have taken the right steps in this direction by opening up to “any amount” as bonuses for competing in the tournament and for two sons of legendary playmaker Abedi, this competition represents the path to redemption albeit from a personal standpoint.

By Yaw Adjei-Mintah