Coach Augustine Eguavoen has said the Super Eagles should have beaten home team Ghana had they made the most of the chances they created in the first leg of a 2022 World Cup playoffs in Kumasi.
The World Cup qualifier played inside a packed Baba Yara Stadium in Kumasi ended goalless with the winners of the return leg in Abuja Tuesday now guaranteed passage to Qatar 2022.
“We had two clear chances to just finish Ghana, but I think getting a draw is good even though we wanted to win here (in Ghana),” Eguavoen said after the absorbing encounter.
Nigeria’s biggest chance fell to Moses Simon in the 55th minute when he sprinted clear of goal but failed to shoot past the exposed Black Stars goalkeeper.
VAR then ruled out a penalty for the Super Eagles in the 75th minute after a TV replay showed Baba Idrissu of Ghana was fouled before he handled the ball inside his own box.
Ghana enjoyed more of the possession and also created several chances to score in front of their fans.
Coach Otto Addo said his players were tired and that allowed Nigeria to come back into the game.
“First of all, we did well even though we made some mistakes, but we started well, there was just a little bit of fatigue and it made Nigeria come into the game more,” he lamented.
The reverse tie will be played Tuesday evening at the MKO Abiola National Stadium in Abuja to determine the team for the World Cup in November in Qatar.
Kick-off time 6pm.
