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Playoffs: Super Eagles are not favourites in Abuja – Black Stars coach

THE Super Eagles have no advantage in the Qatar 2022 World Cup playoffs despite the draw they earned in Kumasi, Black Stars head coach Otto Addo has declared.

The Nigerians put up a flat performance but withstood Ghana’s pressure and over 40,000 baying fans at the Baba Yara Stadium to come away with a 0-0 draw in the first leg on Friday night.

With a win in the return leg at the Moshood Abiola Stadium in Abuja on Tuesday, the Super Eagles would book their spot at the World Cup in Qatar scheduled for November and December.

“The result doesn’t change anything. When we go there we want to win,” Addo said in Ghana over the weekend.

The former Black Stars midfielder was appointed as interim head coach after Ghana’s disastrous outing at the Africa Cup of Nations in January and he is happy with the side’s first match under his guidance.

He is banking on Nigeria to cave in to the pressure of needing to win at home.

“Even though our Africa Cup of Nations was not good this year, you saw we matched Nigeria in the first leg,” he added.

“So I don’t see them as favourites, the pressure will be on them at home and away goals can hurt a lot.”

The Super Eagles are seeking to qualify for their fourth consecutive World Cup while the Black Stars are aiming to return after missing the 2018 edition in Russia.

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Naija Times