Super Eagles captain, Ahmed Musa, has stated emphatically that the players will do everything to qualify for the Qatar 2022 World Cup when they face archrivals Ghana in a double-header play-off for one of the five tickets allocated to Africa.
The Eagles are billed to face the Black Stars in the first leg at the Baba Yara Stadium in Kumasi on Friday, before returning to for the second leg at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium in Abuja on March 29.
The rivalry between both West African giants dates back to the 1950s and overall, Ghana has been the better side in terms of performances, winning 21 games, losing 10, with 18 ending in draw, but Musa believes their impressive run will end as this is a new generation of Eagles.
“I know they have a very good record against Nigeria, but this is a new generation of the Super Eagles, so we’re going there to break that record,” Musa said in a video posted on the Eagles YouTube page.
“I know we’ll do our best to make the fans happy, I know we said we were going to win the Africa Cup of Nations but there was a setback. The only thing we can do to make Nigerians proud is to give them the World Cup ticket and God willing, we will do that.”
Musa added that games against Ghana had always been tough.
“I remember the friendly game we played against Ghana at the Watford stadium in London (in 2011). The game ended goalless but was very tough. It was like a fight on the pitch and outside the pitch.
“We know that this game is not going to be easy, so we have to give everything we have in the first leg to see what we have before we return home. We will do our best over there.
“The rivalry between Nigeria and Ghana is not just about football, it’s also about politics, it’s about the jollof rice, music, fashion, movies and entertainment, I mean everything and now football has brought us together to show who the king is.”
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