Richard Animam
14 December 2008
The traditional rivalry between Nigeria and her West African neighbour Ghana in football will again come to the fore this afternoon as the Home- based Super Eagles attempt to restore some pride and qualify for the maiden edition of the CAF African Nations Championship.
The team led by coach Okey Emordi take on the Black Stars of Ghana in the second leg of the CAF African Nations Championship today in Calabar and will attempt to cancel the 2-3 loss to the Ghanaians in the first leg played in Ghana two weeks ago.
The former Enyimba of Aba handler and his wards will be going for the jugular of the Ghanaians to ensure that they pick a ticket for the championship organised by CAF to build national teams from local players.
Coach Emordi is confident that they have done enough in terms of preparation to beat the Ghanaians in the epic clash and qualify.
"We have been in camp for over a week and I can tell you that within that period we have done a lot of preparation. I am confident that at the end of the day we would be the ones smiling. I am confident in the quality of players in my team and I am also happy with their response to training. They are aware that we need to beat Ghana and every one of them have given me their words that Ghana will fall today in Calabar ", Coach Emordi said.
Super Eagles need to beat Ghana 1-0 to qualify for the tournament. The Black Stars on the other hand have also promised hell for the Nigerians, saying that they intend to prove that Ghana is a better footballing nation than Nigeria.
The Black Stars proved a point in Ghana during the first leg but coach Emordi believes that if Ghana can defeat Nigeria in Ghana, then nothing stops Nigeria from doing the same in Nigeria when both sides clash.
"I know the Ghanaian team and I also know that it's not going to be a tea party for Nigeria but I am confident that we will beat them. All I ask is for Nigerians to pray for us", he added.
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