CAF moves Ghana, Nigeria matches as Eagles’ coaches parley with players

Super Eagles’ Coaches, Augustine Eguavoen and Emmanuel Amuneke, are expected back in the country this weekend to continue preparation for next month’s Qatar 2022 World Cup qualifier against Ghana.

Yesterday, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) announced new dates for the home and away matches, which ultimate winner will bag the ticket to play at the Qatar 2022 World Cup.

According to the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), CAF has pushed the FIFA World Cup play-off round to new dates, with Ghana hosting the opening leg in Cape Coast on March 25, starting from 7.30 p.m. Ghana time, which will be 8.30 p.m. in Nigeria. It was earlier scheduled to be played on March 24.
 
The Nigeria leg, earlier billed for March 27, will now hold on March 29 at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Abuja.

As part of preparations for the matches, Super Eagles coaches, Augustine Eguavoen and Emmanuel Amuneke, have been on a tour of Europe to discuss with some of the players expected to make the country’s team for the games.

The Guardian learnt that after meeting with the players in England, Italy, Spain and Germany last week, the team has moved to Belgium from where they will return to Nigeria at the weekend.

The Super Eagles camp for the matches will open on March 20, which is four days before the first leg of the tie.

A source at the NFF said, yesterday, that the players and coaches are agreed on the importance of the last qualifying battles and have, therefore, pledged to ensure the ticket does not elude them.

Meanwhile, Nigeria’s opponents, Ghana, have also started preparing for the qualifiers with the country’s FA settling on Englishman, Chris Hughton (technical adviser) and former Black Stars’ player, Otto Addo (head coach), to lead the charge.

Ghana, which failed to make the second round of the just-concluded Africa Cup of Nations, sacked their manager, Milovan Rajevan, immediately after the competition.

Addo, 46, is an assistant coach at German Bundesliga club, Borussia Dortmund, where he focuses on youth development.

Addo, a German-born former Ghana international, played for Dortmund and Mainz 05 and has previously been on the coaching staff at Hamburg and Borussia Moenchengladbach.

Also in the coaching crew are former Dutch international, George Boateng, who is a youth team coach at his former club AstonVilla, and Didi Dramani, who worked at FC Nordsjaelland in Denmark.