Nigeria out to scratch 15-year itch against Ghana in clash of great rivals
25-Mar-2022 08:00:22 | The Guardian
World Cup play-off is flavoured by history and a sense that chaos is never far away for both teams
A bitter February night at Griffin Park in 2007. A friendly between Nigeria and Ghana, as though such a thing were possible. Ghana had not beaten their neighbours in 15 years but when Nigerian defences cracked, they collapsed.
It was 0-0 at half-time but then Laryea Kingson, Sulley Muntari and Junior Agogo struck between the 50th and 60th minutes. It was a lot less than 10 minutes of playing time given the gleeful pitch invasions that followed each goal. The game finished 4-1, well over an hour later than scheduled, thanks to a delayed start for a larger than expected crowd and the frequent interruptions (a personal confession: I queued for more than an hour at an overwhelmed press entrance with the Observer’s then-sports editor Brian Oliver, before giving up and hopping over a barrier, ripping my coat as I did so).
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