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Ebenezer Bajela
What has been tagged the ‘Jollof Derby’ on social media seems to have been spiced up with a revenge mission as Nigeria and Ghana once again faceoff in a potentially explosive friendly game at the Stade de Marrakech, Morocco on Friday (today), PUNCH Sports Extra reports.
Both ations have seen a few changes since their Africa Cup of Nations campaigns, with Jose Peseiro no longer in charge of the Super Eagles after his contract expired in February, while Otto Addo has returned to the Black Stars dugout.
The Eagles head into today’s game with a score to settle as it is their first meeting against Ghana since the Black Stars denied them a World Cup ticket in 2022.
Still reeling from the result of their last encounter at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium in Abuja, where a 1-1 draw against the arch-rivals denied them a place in Qatar; Finidi George’s men are all fired up for this encounter with the coach insisting the game was more than a friendly tie.
“They call it friendly matches but there is really nothing friendly when you play, especially Ghana. I have been involved in matches against Ghana since the 1992 Africa Cup of Nations in Senegal. Matches between our countries are serious duels and always seen as battles by our people,” the interim coach said.
Since 2022, when Peseiro took charge of the country’s national team, the Eagles have lost six out of eight friendly games, with the 3-2 win over Mozambique last October their only victory.
Fixtures against Ghana and Mali over the international break could help to change the awful run of results, and Finidi hopes to begin the process of a turnaround with the first game against the Black Stars.
Meanwhile, Addo, who returns to the dugout after Chris Hughton’s departure following a group-stage elimination from the 2023 AFCON, where the Ghanaians failed to win a game, will hope to extend his unbeaten record as coach against Nigeria.
Having already avoided defeat in two meetings against Nigeria — a goalless encounter in Ghana and a 1-1 draw in the reverse fixture in Abuja — Addo could go three unbeaten against the Eagles today.
He, however, faces a tough task taking over a side that have only won one of their last eight games in all competitions — a 1-0 victory over Madagascar in World Cup qualifying.