{"id":1037373,"date":"2022-03-28T17:52:13","date_gmt":"2022-03-28T17:52:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/03\/28\/nigeria-not-favourites-to-reach-qatar-says-ghana-coach\/"},"modified":"2022-03-28T17:52:13","modified_gmt":"2022-03-28T17:52:13","slug":"nigeria-not-favourites-to-reach-qatar-says-ghana-coach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/03\/28\/nigeria-not-favourites-to-reach-qatar-says-ghana-coach\/","title":{"rendered":"Nigeria ‘not favourites’ to reach Qatar, says Ghana coach"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\"Otto
Otto Addo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Ghana\u2019s interim head coach Otto Addo says he does not see Nigeria as favourites going into Tuesday\u2019s second leg of their crunch World Cup play-off.<\/p>\n

The first leg ended 0-0 on Friday in Kumasi, meaning a home win in Abuja would be enough to send the Super Eagles through to their seventh finals.<\/p>\n

Addo is confident that Ghana, who crashed out of this year\u2019s Africa Cup of Nations, can still reach Qatar.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe result doesn\u2019t change anything. When we go there we want to win.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cEven though our Africa Cup of Nations was not good this year, you saw we matched Nigeria in the first leg,\u201d said the former Black Star.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo I don\u2019t see them as favourites, the pressure will be on them at home and away goals can hurt a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n

The two West African rivals came into the crunch tie having both suffered early Nations Cup exits earlier this year but in contrasting styles.<\/p>\n

Ghana exited without a win and a humbling defeat to Comoros to exit bottom of their group, which also included Morocco and Gabon, in Cameroon.<\/p>\n

Nigeria, meanwhile, won all three of their group games to become many people\u2019s favourites for the title only to be stunned by Tunisia in the Round of 16.<\/p>\n

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Addo, who was appointed interim coach after Milovan Rajevac was sacked after the Nations Cup, is confident his squad can more than match their Abuja hosts on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey have high-quality players but they\u2019ve got respect for us and I thought the match in Kumasi was equal in terms of performance.\u201d<\/p>\n

Addo also praised Ghana\u2019s young Ajax star Mohammed Kudus for his performance in the first leg but has called on him to be more positive going forward in the return fixture.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe did well, and he\u2019s obviously a player Ghana missed during the Nations Cup [when he was injured],\u201d said Addo, who played for Ghana<\/p>\n

\u201cI know the fans in Kumasi loved it when Kudus was doing his thing but sometimes he could be more precise and determined to go forward.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe has the speed and if he is in front of an opponent I think he can create more, but he\u2019s an exceptional player, no doubt.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nigeria-Ghana is one of five crunch ties on Tuesday that will determine which teams will represent the continent at the tournament in Qatar.<\/p>\n

In the other ties, both Algeria and Tunisia will be confident of building on their 1-0 wins in Cameroon and Mali respectively.<\/p>\n

Morocco will hope a home win can follow their 1-1 draw in DR Congo, while Egypt must travel to protect a narrow one-goal lead at the home of African champions Senegal.<\/p>\n

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