Blacks Stars and Black Galaxies : Ghana has reigned over Nigeria twice this year in the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification and the 2022 Africa Nations Championship ( CHAN).
First , the Black Stars registered a superb qualification over the Super Eagles in March to qualify for the Qatar World Cup finals and the Black Galaxies , on Saturday September 3rd , repeated the dose against their counterparts.
The qualifications were obtained in a spectacular fashion as the Black Stars and the Black Galaxies picked their respective berths on Nigerian soil – at the same Moshood Abiola National stadium in Abuja.
The Stars drew 1-1 to make it to Qatar 2022 whilst the Galaxies lost 2-0 in regular time but won the ensuing penalty shootouts by 5-4.
These victories over Nigeria become more enjoyable as the technical area saw two Ghanaian coaches – Otto Addo for the Black Stars and Annor Walker for the Galaxies. 100 % Ghanaian.
To qualify for the finals of the FIFA World Cup and CHAN over an African elite like Nigeria is definitely a great achievement especially under the Kurt Okraku administration as head of the Ghana Football Association.
For 70 minutes, the impregnable Black Stars defence avoided a crucial second Nigeria goal on March 29th to close the play-off at 1-1 on aggregate to qualify for the World Cup. The Nigerians paraded better individual talents but in terms of character and zeal the Stars reigned supreme.
It is the same show of character that qualified the Galaxies to the CHAN finals.
How resolute the team avoided a crucial third Nigeria goal was underpinned by the defence of Annor Walker’s team. The back four made three clean sheets in four qualifying games. They did their job well.
Despite not winning any of their matches in Abuja, the national teams still returned home with the qualification thanks to their zeal and high degree of pomp.
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