Eguavoen promises to respect the Black Stars of Ghana in final showdown

Super Eagles interim manager Augustine Eguavoen has reiterated his team will approach the second leg of their World Cup Qualifiers against the Black Stars of Ghana with all seriousness.

The 56-year-old tactician noted that the Super Eagles will respect the Ghanaians when they meet at the Moshood Abiola Stadium on Tuesday.

The Super Eagles welcome the Black Stars of Ghana in a must-win encounter for the Nigerian national team as they try to secure qualification for the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup.

In his press conference ahead of the match, Eguavoen reiterated that the Ghanaians are no pushovers and thus the Super Eagles will play them as such.

Eguavoen said: “Ghana were on top of their game in the first leg but they didn’t have any clear-cut chances – but we had two clear-cut chances.

“Ghana are not a pushover, they have a lot of talent. We will keep respecting them and I’m very sure the Ghana team will give us a lot of respect."

Eguavoen also stated that the Super Eagles would need to react quicker in the second leg than they did in Kumasi so they can stifle the Ghanaians' freedom on the ball. 

“We wanted to win the first leg but if we couldn’t win I would have settled for a draw and that’s exactly what happened. Our organisation was very good, we combined well in all the lines," Eguavoen explained.

“But we didn’t react quickly, so that’s something we have to work on because we cannot allow the Ghanaian players freedom on the ball."

The return leg of the World Cup Qualifiers against Ghana is scheduled for Tuesday, March 29 at the Moshood Abiola Stadium by 6:00pm Nigerian time.

Ahead of the match, the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) and the Ministry of Youth and Sports Development will distribute 20,000 free tickets to fans to watch the match at the Moshood Abiola Stadium.