Super Eagles Of Nigeria Fail To Soar As Black Stars Of Ghana Defeat Them To Claim World Cup Ticket.
The Super Eagles of Nigeria will not be featuring at the FIFA World Cup, Qatar 2022 after they were defeated on technicalities by the Black Stars of Ghana in the 2nd leg of their playoff game.
UEFA and other football governing bodies across Europe have since abolished the “Away Goal” rule, as it’s been deemed an unfair and undue advantage for teams playing matches away from home in football.
Alas, this same rule proved to be the Super Eagles’ undoing tonight, as they get to watch the Mundial from their individual homes and hotels later this year (2022).
The decisive moment came in the 10th minute of the match after Arsenal FC of England midfielder Thomas Partey received a neat square from Gideon Mensah on the edge of the box and released a ferocious shot into the bottom left corner of the Nigerian goal.
That move had come from a free-kick to the Ghanaians on the edge of the Eagles’ box after an infringement by Emmanuel Dennis of Nigeria and Watford FC, England. The wall blocked the resulting freekick, but the ball fell kindly to Gideon and the rest, as they say, is history!
Parity was restored on the night from the penalty spot for the Nigerian team, though, after a VAR review awarded them a spot-kick which was expertly tucked away by William Troost-Ekong. Momentum naturally swung in favor of the Eagles, and they started piling the pressure on the Black Stars’ with chance after chance created.
Perhaps the most significant talking point of the match was the decision to overturn what would have been Nigeria’s winning goal after another VAR check in the 37th minute of the game. SC Napoli of Italy henchman Victor Osimhen had received a fine cross in the box and rifled home from close range to send the team an entire nation into wild jubilations in the 34th minute, only to see their joy snuffed out a few minutes later by the VAR check.
It was to be another tale of all given with nothing gained eventually, though, as the Black Stars went on to defend tenaciously for the rest of the game, thus earning themselves a ticket as one of Africa’s representatives to the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup.
We wish the Nigerian team and its handlers better luck next time and hope they bounce back stronger whenever they are called upon again.
