The Super Eagles should strive to win
Nigeria’s bid to reach a fourth consecutive FIFA World Cup, and seventh in total, will be decided this evening at the Moshood Abiola Stadium in Abuja. Standing between the Super Eagles and the ticket to the first World Cup to hold in the Middle East are their eternal rivals, the Black Stars of Ghana. It is a mouth-watering fixture that may go beyond the regulation time, to decide. The first leg in Kumasi last Friday ended in stalemate. But a winner must emerge today in what is being described on social media as ‘the Jollof derby’
The rivalry between Nigeria and Ghana dates back to more than six decades. And in all these clashes on the field of play, none comes close to what is at stake today. The last time both countries were involved in a FIFA World Cup qualifying fixture was in 2001, when they battled for a spot at the Korea/Japan 2002 finals. Just like what happened in Kumasi at the weekend, the first leg ended goalless 21 years ago. But the Super Eagles clinched a resounding 3-0 victory at the Liberation Stadium in Port Harcourt on 29th July 2001 to eliminate Ghana.
However, a trip further down memory lane shows two countries that have become West Africa’s biggest rivals in the Beautiful Game, with the Ghanaians dominating the earlier part of those match ups. This reflects in the number of times the Black Stars have won the continent’s most prized football title, the Africa Cup of Nations (AfCON). The Ghanaian national team has won four times against the three times Super Eagles have done so. The Ghanaian national team equally reached the quarter final of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa as against the perennial second round elimination by Nigeria.
In all, Ghana holds a 21-10 advantage over Nigeria on head-to-head standings. But all that is in the past now as those advantages were achieved in the 1970s and 1980s. Since Abedi Pele Ayew led the Black Stars to defeat Nigeria by a painful 2-1 score at Senegal ’92, the Super Eagles have found the missing link in dealing with their eternal rivals. With Nigeria’s three AFCON titles under belt in 1980, 1994 and 2013, the Ghanaians have not gotten anywhere near the podium since 1982 when they triumphed in Libya.
However, statistics will play no role in deciding who grabs the ticket to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar and the $12million (about N5billion) group stage and preparations bonus at stake this evening. Only the team with something extra from the bag to make the difference will walk away with the prized ticket to join four other teams to represent Africa at the tournament.
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In the first leg outing last Friday, Nigeria created more chances but failed to utilise them. Joseph Ayodele-Aribo, Emmanuel Dennis and Moses Simon came close on several occasions, but poor finishing denied Nigerian an edge. Poor feeds from the midfield didn’t help Nigeria’s top marksman and Napoli front man, Victor Osimhen. But all that should change today in Abuja.
Augustine Eguavoen and his assistant, Emmanuel Amuneke will join the likes of Stephen Keshi and Amodu Shaibu in Nigeria’s football history if they succeed against the Ghanaians. It remains to be seen how Eguavoen plans to plug the leak in the midfield where injured influential Leicester City midfielder, Wilfred Ndidi, was lacking last Friday. But the coaches and the players should do everything to ensure that the flag of Nigeria is hoisted at the FIFA World Cup in Qatar. It is a huge global platform for the exhibition of national pride that we should not miss.
We wish the Super Eagles of Nigeria victory tonight!
