The Super Eagles of Nigeria will arrive in Kumasi today March 24, 2022 ahead of the 2022 World Cup playoff against sworn rivals Ghana.
The team began camping on Sunday in the nation’s capital.
Nigeria coach Augustine Eguavoen has been training with a full house ahead of the crucial encounter against their West African rivals.
The Nigeria team will fly out via a chartered flight from the Nnamdi Azikiwe international Airport in Abuja on Thursday morning.
The team is expected to land at the Kotoka International Airport before they embark on their trip to Kumasi for the first leg encounter which comes off at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium.
The team upon arrival will train at the match venue 24 hours before the game as stipulated by the competition regulations by CAF and FIFA.
Ghana and Nigeria will battle it out for one of the five tickets to represent Africa at the 2022 World Cup to be staged in Qatar in November.
The second leg encounter comes off four days time at the Moshood Abiola Sports Stadium in Abuja.
The Nigerians have been talking tough ahead of the crunch double-header both in Ghana and Nigeria this month.
The winner of the tie over two legs will qualify for the Qatar 2022 World Cup.
On Wednesday, March 16, 2022, the Confederation of African Football confirmed the Baba Yara stadium as the venue to host Ghana’s crucial first leg encounter against West African rivals Nigeria.
This comes after the inspection team from CAF rejected the Cape Coast stadium, stating it is unfit to host the game on March 25.
The news has been received with great excitement by Ghanaians and this has sent some shivers to Nigerians, knowing the last World Cup playoff game by Ghana ended with a huge victory over Egypt.
The Black Stars whitewashed Egypt 6-1 at the Baba Yara Sports stadium on October 15, 2013, making the second leg in Cairo a mere formality. Ghana qualified for the World Cup in 2014, thanks to the win in Kumasi.
The 6-1 drubbing is not the only famous win by Ghana in Kumasi, a year before the game against Egypt, the Black Stars thrashed Lesotho 7-0 at the same venue.
The Black Stars also defeated Ethiopia 5-0 at the Baba Yara sports stadium during the qualifiers for AFCON 2019. Kumasi produces goals for the Black Stars, hence a reason for the Super Eagles to panic.
Meanwhile, football is considered a religion in the Ashanti Region and when the Black Stars arrive in town they are kingly received.
The fans troop to the stadium in numbers to watch Ghana play all the time, and as usual the 40,000 capacity seater stadium is expected to be filled to the brim.
Ghana will hosts Nigeria on March 25 for the first leg before travelling to Abuja in four days time for the second leg.
Source: ghanasoccernet.com