Nigeria, Ghana ditch Christmas, train ahead of CHAN qualifier

Nigerian players and their Ghanaian counterparts are not taking any days off ahead of their crucial Africa Nations Championship qualifiers second leg clash in Uyo on Saturday, as both teams continued their training on Christmas Day, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.

The eighth CHAN tournament will be hosted by Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda, from February 1-28, 2025 and Nigeria and Ghana are still locked in a delicately poised contest for one of the tickets.

Both countries played out a goalless draw in the first leg of the encounter in Accra last Sunday, setting the tone for a fight to finish at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium.

Led by Remo Stars coach and his Rangers International counterpart Fidelis Ilechukwu, the Nigerian squad arrived in Lagos from Accra on Monday and moved to Uyo, with five more players joining them on Tuesday to beef up the squad.

They had their first training session with 19 players on Tuesday while the camp swelled to 23 players for Wednesday’s session on Christmas Day.

The players who joined the camp are Kwara United goalkeeper Badmus Gbadamosi, Rangers midfielder Kazeem Ogunleye while Megwo Sunday (Abia Warriors), Samuel Ayanrinde (3SC) and Temitope Vincent (Plateau Utd) will beef up the attack.

“History is not very good with us and we have decided not to pay attention to what history has done to us. We are focusing on the present and the future and we know how important qualifying is for us and the country as well,” stand-in head coach Ogunmodede said on Tuesday.

Like the Super Eagles B, the Black Galaxies also continued their preparations on Christmas Day with the hope of stopping Nigeria from reaching the tournament for the third time.

To advance to the tournament, Nigeria must beat Ghana in open play during the second leg. They must avoid a score draw to give the Ghanaians the edge while another goalless draw will send the game into extra time and potentially penalty shootouts.

The home-based Eagles have the task of reaching the CHAN tournament for the first time in six years.

Nigeria has never won the tournament, having finished third at the 2014 edition in South Africa before losing the final against hosts Morocco four years later.