President-General of Nigeria’s foremost football fans club, the Nigeria Football Supporters club (NFSC) Dr. Rafiu Ladipo said a united front would help the Super Eagles nick the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup ticket ahead of Ghana’s Black stars. TUNDE LIADI reports
The President General, Nigeria Football and other Sports Supporters Club, Dr. Rafiu Ladipo has charged the Super Eagles to approach the 2022 FIFA World Cup playoffs with the Black Stars of Ghana with all seriousness to ensure Nigeria’s flag is hoisted in Qatar later this year.
Ladipo said that Ghana’s eagerness to beat Nigeria in their meetings would give the Eagles extra motivation to give their all while urging the Eagles to etch their names in the annals of football history with a win in Kumasi in the first leg of the encounter billed for the Baba Yara Stadium.
“The game between Nigeria and Ghana is a very serious project,” Ladipo began in an interview with an online radio station, boomradio.com. “Whenever we play against Ghana they are always eager to beat us and vice versa. In history, both nations have beaten themselves several times.
“Thank God for these days , we have young Nigerian players who are willing to write their names in gold.
“The only way they can do that is to go to Kumasi on the 25th of March and win. At first, they said the game would be played in Cape Coast and the issue of bad pitch came up and Ghana has now taken us to Kumasi which is their slaughter slab.”
Ladipo said that if the game is to be judged by the strength of players both possessed that the Eagles will definitely have an edge but that the seeming advantage may turn out to become the country’s undoing If Nigeria allows complacency to set in.
“We have played against Ghana several times in Kumasi and we have won there before. The players must approach the games with determination and with over 100 percent commitment if they have to win,” he said. .
“We must not be complacent. We are going for World Cup qualifiers and the result of the first leg is crucial if we must qualify for Qatar. The result of the first leg will affect the second leg. The players must be ready to give their all during the two games.”
Ladipo recalled how the Green Eagles won the 1980 AFCON in Nigeria without facing the then reigning AFCON champions, Black Stars of Ghana: “People did not know how we won the AFCON in 1980. If I have to tell you, the Nigeria Supporters Club played a role. Nigeria was based in Lagos while Ghana played their group games in Ibadan.
“We do know that they could give us problems if they come to play us in Lagos and so the Supporters Club decided to go Ibadan to support Morocco in their group game with Ghana. Ghana’s goalkeeper, Joseph Carr was always wearing a faze cap and teams always found it difficult to score against them.
“We got information from Kumasi that if the Ghana goalkeeper has the faze cap on his head, Morocco will not score against him. The first half ended goalless and at the start of the second half, we detailed one of our members to go and remove the faze cap on the goalkeeper’s head. He did and ran away. Morocco went ahead to win that game 1-0.
“Having eliminated Ghana, we faced and beat Morocco in the semi-final in Lagos through the brilliance of Felix Owolabi before the final triumph over Algeria after which we lifted the title.”
Ladipo urged the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to ensure all necessary measures are put in place to rally support for Eagles in the two-legged encounter.
“The Nigeria Football Federation must play a diplomatic role and ensure the right things are done. When you get to Ghana, endeavour to bring your supporters clubs together in one corner of the stadium.”
“When you have about 5000 people in an area of the stadium and they are singing together, it will be foolhardy for any official of the game to want to get biased. It has happened and worked against us in several matches when you don’t have your supporters together.
“When we go to Ghana with committed players who are more than 100 percent determined, the supporters club will be rooting for them to win. There is no way we will not win but if we don’t win, the worst will be a draw. But we leave it the way we have been doing it, it won’t work that way.”
Meanwhile, Ladipo has lauded the inclusion of Emmanuel Amuneke to the Eagles technical crew but warned that Eguavoen must agree to work with Amuneke for the interest of the team.
“The combination of Austin Eguavoen and Emmanuel Amuneke is very good. Both of them played for the country and they have also done coaching for different outfits.
“They need to be united. Amuneke should correctly advise Eguavoen correctly and it is important for him to heed the advice. Both of them can work together to achieve positive results.”
He also admonished the Eagles technical crew to be flexible in their style of play and approach to the two games to ensure the team’s playing pattern is not easily studied and simulated.
He noted: “It is when you are doing well that you have to increase your commitment. We came to the match against Tunisia as if we were going to a party.
“A lot of people may not seem that way but I have been in football before all of them. We won our first three games and ought to have known we are now the target. Tunisians read and studied our game. They saw that our power horse was from the left and they clipped that left-wing. When that left was clipped, there was nothing stopping us from having another alternative.
“Football is no longer static as it is now very dynamic. It is for you to observe and listen to criticisms. It may not be okay by you when you are criticized but you need to lay it bare and see if it is going to work for you.”