Facing Ghana’s Black Galaxies this Sunday, the Super Eagles – B team may benefit from the current trend of away teams picking victories in the first leg matches of the African Nations Championship.

None of the away teams lost in the five matches played on Saturday. This Sunday, there are eight matches on the card. One of such is the Ghana versus Nigeria duel in Accra.

The match is vengeance-laced for the two teams apart from extending their age-long rivalry.

Nigeria had been on the losing side in previous CHAN clashes with Ghana. They therefore seek vengeance.

Ghana on the other hand have been the losers in recent encounters with Nigerian teams this year. They lost to Nigeria in a friendly match this year in Morocco.

The Nigerian U-20 team also beat Ghana in the regional WAFU Cup final match this year.

For the Nigerian side, they are taking a cue from the other away teams this week as host teams became casualties to visiting sides in the first leg matches.

In the five matches on Saturday, only Congo teams drew their matches.  DR Congo drew 1-1 with Chad while Congo played goalless with Equatorial Guinea.

All other away teams secured victories. This could be an harbinger of good fortune for the Super Eagles-B

On Saturday, Lesotho, the away team, secured a confidence-boosting win over ‘hosts’ Angola in Durban, South Africa.

In a Southern African derby, Zambia’s Chipolopolo pummelled Mozambique in a one-sided affair that saw the Zambians 3-0.

Eswatini also lost 2-0 at home to Madagascar in Mbabane.

CHAN 2024 Qualifiers Results on Saturday

Lesotho 0-2 Angola
Equatorial Guinea 0-0 Congo
Mozambique 0-3 Zambia
Eswatini 0-2 Madagascar

Chad 1-1 DR Congo

Sunday’s CHAN 2024 QualifiersFixtures (Time in GMT)

13:00: South Sudan vs Rwanda
14:00: Central African Republic vs Cameroon
14:00: Ethiopia vs Sudan
16:00: Ghana vs Nigeria
16:00: Cote d’Ivoire vs Burkina Faso
16:00: Liberia vs Senegal
16:00: Togo vs Niger
17:00: Mauritania vs Mali

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Ghana’s most celebrated footballer, Abedi ‘Pele’ Ayew is expected to be on the grandstand of the Accra Sports Stadium on Sunday when Ghana’s Black Galaxies take on Nigeria in the first leg match of the qualifying duel for the African Cup of Nations (CHAN).

According to Ghana’s publication, Ghanaweb, Abedi pledged to show up at the Accra Sports Stadium.

He indicated that he has received numerous invitations from various teams that want him to show up at their games, but he has refused to do so.

Pele noted that due to the love he has for the Galaxies and the nation, he will be present at the game to boost the players’ morale and encourage them to give their best to beat Nigeria.

“I will make sure that I am with you at the Accra Sports Stadium first to support you. I have never done that. The invitations are too many, but I always try to avoid them. But this time,

“I’ll be there, be behind you, and see you go through the process,” Abedi Pele was quoted by Ghanaweb as saying.

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BY KUNLE SOLAJA.

When the Nigeria Super Eagles-B team meets Ghana’s Black Galaxies on Sunday in the first leg of the final qualifying duel for the 2025 African Nations Championship, it will be the sixth-time head-to-head confrontation of both sides.

In all the previous encounters, the Ghanaian side came out smiling.  There is therefore an apparent jinx for the Nigerian side.

The African Nations Championship (CHAN) is for selected nationals of the domestic leagues of various countries and thus also provides relative strength to each national league.

Nigeria qualified only thrice in the preceding seven editions. The Ghana Black Galaxies have been the most dreaded opposition for the Nigerian sides.

They had met in the 2009 and the 2022 series. The aggregate results were in Ghana’s favour.

First, in the 2009 qualifiers, Nigeria squandered a 2-0 first-half lead in Accra and lost 3-2. But going into the return leg played in Calabar, they could not score a goal that could have seen them through on the away goal rule as they ended the match 0-0.

In the last edition, Nigeria for the 2023 edition, Nigeria lost 2-0 in Accra but levelled up in Abuja after a late 2-0 win. But in the eventual penalty shoot-out, the Nigerian team lost 5-4.

Will they overcome Ghana this time? Ghana’s dominance over Nigeria in CHAN is not limited to the qualifying series. Both teams met in the finals of the 2014 edition in South Africa.

The semi-final duel ended goalless after extra time. But Ghana prevailed 4-1 in the eventual penalty shootout.

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