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Super Eagles coach, Augustine Eguavoen has said the most important for the Nigerian national football team at the moment is to get the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup ticket.
TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports Eguavoen made this known as the Super Eagles depart for Kumasi aboard a chartered Air Peace flight to face the Black Stars of Ghana in the World Cup qualifier.
For Super Eagles players, nothing, not even home support, can stop Nigeria from beating Ghana on Friday to make the second leg a mere formality.
At a media briefing yesterday in Abuja, Coach Augustine Eguavoen, who will be facing Ghana for the third time in his coaching career, described the Black Stars as familiar foes, who are not so easy to beat, especially at home.
The Ghanaians played a mind game with the Eagles and did not release their squad list until Monday, but Eguavoen said it has no effect on his team.
Eguavoen said the Black Stars chose to hold on to their squad list for reasons best known to them, adding that it did not change the way the Eagles prepared for the game.
On the absence of Wilfred Ndidi, he said, “We wish him quick recovery because he is an important player for us, but his absence will not change anything. We have a couple of players who can play in that position.
“The philosophy will not change, the style of play will not change. What will change is only the personnel. I am not going to tell you who will take over that position until match day.”
He said a lot is at stake in the game, adding that the most important thing is to get the World Cup ticket and be in Qatar when the competition kicks off. “We are on the verge of qualifying for the World Cup. We have a lot of quality players to pick from for the game,” he said.
Eguavoen added: “We are privileged to be representing Nigeria out of more than 200 million people. We are grateful for that and we want to show that we deserve that honour.
“The squad, the officials and the federation are all working to ensure we qualify for the World Cup.
“With due respect to Ghana, they are no pushovers. We know they have a strong team, but we are hungrier about the ticket. We will go out there to fight and ensure that we do the job right.”
The Super Eagles will leave for Kumasi this morning aboard a chartered Air Peace flight, and return with the same aircraft immediately after the match.