Olawale Ajimotokan
21 January 2008
Sekondi Takoradi — A Nigerian flag yesterday took a lone position at the entrance of the Naval Junior Ratings Mess on the shores of the Atlanta Ocean in Sekondi.
Few metres down the road leading to Essipong Stadium, a woman wrapped around her waist the Ivorien orange, green and white coloured flag.
And the dress rehearsal to today's match was perfected last evening by Nigerian and Ivorien teams which trained at the Stadium.
The inhabitants of Sekondi, the sleepy town that has merged with Takoradi on the eastern part of Ghana, have been divided in deciding who to support between the Super Eagles and Elephants.
Expectations are high not only because of the profile of the two teams but because the Nations Cup which began yesterday with Ghana beating Guinea 2-1 is expected to swing into full gear.
Though Nigeria shares rich colonial ties with Ghana and will be banking on that sentiment to win local support, there will be no doubt the Elephants will win hearts of Ghanaians because both nations share territorial borders.
But relations between Ghana and Cote d'Ivoire, at best is mutually suspicious.
Hundreds of citizens living in the borders area from both sides were killed in the late 1990s as a spill over of political disputes.
And only recently, Ghana's head of intelligence Patrick Poku was forced to step down after Cote d'Ivoire implicated him of complicity in the failed bid to unseat the Ivorien central government.
"I support Cote d'Ivoire because my parents cross the border to hawk their farm products. The Elephants are a good side. I want them to beat Nigeria," intoned Grace.
"It will be a tough battle. I think Cote d'Ivoire is the favourite because of the experience of their players who are also skillful. But I expect Nigeria to fight because the Eagles are physically stronger. As a Ghanaian, I support Nigeria to subdue Cote d'Ivoire because our belief is that Black Stars could easily handle Nigeria in latter stages of the tournament while Cote d'Ivoire would be a hard nut to crack," Eden, a student said.
Bashir, an intra city taxi driver was more direct in his opinion.
"I will be banking on Nigeria to win. I am very passionate about them. I will be at the stadium to cheer them. It will be a good opportunity to see Obafemi Martins play live. I admire him. The Eagles are high profile players. They are the favourites to win the cup"
There was party mood in Sekondi last night as fans of both sides arrived in their hundreds.
And the carnival feeling will spill over to the pitch when the two sides herald the contest in Group B.
It will be the first meeting between both sides since Cote d'Ivoire defeated Nigeria 1-0 at the semi final in the last Nations Cup at Egypt 2006.
But on the whole the balance of past meetings tilts heavily in favour of Nigeria which has triumphed over the Elephants on six occasions out 19 meetings.
The Elephants won on four times while nine matches were drawn. The Eagles have also scored 21 goals while they conceded 14 goals.
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