Ghana head coach, Mas-Ud Didi Dramani, has expressed confidence in his team’s ability to find the back of the net in Nigeria, as the Black Galaxies prepare for the decisive second leg of the 2024 African Nations Championship qualifier, Soccernet.ng reports.
The first leg, held at the Accra Sports Stadium, ended in a goalless draw, leaving the tie delicately poised. The return leg is set to take place on Saturday, December 28, at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium in Uyo, Nigeria.
Speaking after the stalemate, Dramani outlined his team’s determination to secure victory away from home and qualify for the CHAN tournament, which will be co-hosted by Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania next year.
“As much as possible, we will try to keep a clean sheet, but I want to believe that we will surely score,” Dramani said confidently.
“We will score; we will open up something. I control the energy, the effort, I control the performance (of my boys), but the results, we don’t control it.”
Ghana, whose CHAN squad consists exclusively of home-based players, is eager to make amends for their quarterfinal exit in the 2022 edition of the competition.
Despite reaching the CHAN finals in 2009 and 2014, the Black Galaxies are yet to lift the coveted trophy.
Dramani also emphasised the positive impact of the competition on Ghana’s domestic league.
“When we don’t qualify, there is still positive. What is positive about this is that these boys have been exposed to a certain level of our Ghanaian league, and this is the page that we want to print out—that we are expressing our domestic competition structure to the rest of Africa and the world,” he explained.
With Ghana aiming to qualify for CHAN ahead of Nigeria for the second consecutive time, the stakes are high.
Both teams are vying for a spot in the prestigious tournament and the chance to assert dominance on the continental stage.
