It was a hard pill to swallow for Nigerians after Black stars of Ghana qualified to play in the Qatar 2022 World Cup in a tough battle with Nigeria’s Super Eagles on Tuesday, March 29.
The second leg match which took place at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium Abuja rounded up in a 1-1 draw after a 0-0 stalemate in Kumasi, Ghana, on Friday, March 25.
In the field, Ghana took the lead in scoring the first goal by Thomas Party in the 10th minute which was a huge shock for the 60,000 cheering Nigerians fans.
Following the heat of the battle, the Nigerian team was able to return the favor by equalizing in 22 minutes, with defender Williams Troost-Ekong scoring the goal. It would have been counted as a second goal after Victor Oshimen came close to scoring as he ran fast on a floated ball from Oghenekaro and got past the Ghanaian goalkeeper to slot in but a VAR check was ran and it was disqualified.
Confidence was however building up in the hearts of Nigerian fans who thought the Super Eagles will wrap things up in a swift but unfortunately found themselves up against an efficient defense tactic from their opponent. It was at this point that the hope of Nigerians was lost as the battle between the two rivals was held in gridlock.
The whistle was blown with a tie score on aggregate but giving the Black stars of Ghana a slot in the Qatar 2022 World Cup.
It was a matter of seconds before aggravated fans took over the pitch in anger, while destroying equipment they found on sight. The Ghana and Nigerian players were however kept safe in their designated dressing rooms waiting for the chaos to die down.
