GHANA v NIGERIA WORLD CUP FLAKES

· West African Rivals in Winner-Takes-All Battle

Although both nations have recorded more encounters against each other more than any country on the African continent, this is the first time both nations will go head -to-head for final qualification ticket to the Mundial. Their first World Cup qualifying match was on 28th August 1960 which Ghana won 4-1 in Accra while the reversed encounter ended 2-2 with Ghana moving to the next phase on better goals deference. They last met in the qualifying tournament in 2001. A goalless outing on 11th March 2001 was followed by a resounding 3-0 bashing of Black Stars on 29th July 2001 in Port Harcourt for Super Eagles to qualify for the Korea/Japan 2002 tournament.

‘Unacceptable’ Boarding Ramp at Kumasi Airport
Ahead of tonight’s epic clash at the Baba Yara Stadium in Kumasi, the expected mind game by the host FA may have played itself out when the Nigerian contingent arrived the ancient city yesterday morning. Reason, the ramp provided to the Nigerian team to disembark from the chartered Air Peace flight at the Kumasi airport was ‘sub-standard’. Players and officials had to jump or limp from the craft onto the first step of the ramp. The ‘unfriendly scene’ generated a lot of conversation on social media.

Ghana’s Mind Game
After a disastrous performance at the last AFCON tournament in Cameroon where the Four-time African champions placed last in Group C, the preparation of the team for this all-important clash against Nigeria became a debate in the Parliament and thereafter the conventional norm of making public the team list for matches was jettison until last Monday. Like most Ghanaian media outlet reported last week that the technical crew in collaboration with the FA are playing mind game with Nigeria. The next few hours will justify whether the strategy will work or not.

Waiting for Kumasi Magic to Work for Ghana Tonight
Since the rejection of the Cape Coast Stadium to stage tonight’s epic clash before finally settling for Baba Yara stadium in Kumasi, Black Stars have taken solace that Kumasi has become their slaughter ground. Ghana claimed a memorable 6-1 win against Pharaohs of Egypt in the crucial qualifying match towards 2014 World Cup. Ghana had earlier defeated Lesotho 7-0 and Ethiopia 5-0 before reaching the finals of AFCON 2021 in Cameroon.
–Compiledby Femi Solaja