Ghana qualify for 2022 World Cup
Copy Link | GHALCA | March 31st, 2022
Ghana qualified for the World Cup in Qatar on Tuesday night. The Black Stars drew 1-1 with Nigeria in Abuja.
The hero is Thomas Partey. The Arsenal midfielder cooled off the packed Abuja stadium by opening the score in the 11th minute.
Nigeria thought they had done the hard part when they quickly equalised with a generous penalty, which was converted by William Troost-Ekong.
Despite their intense domination, the Super Eagles were unable to take the lead with Victor Osimhen still as clumsy as ever up front.
Ghana is back in the World Cup after three consecutive appearances in 2006, 2010 and 2014.
But goalkeeper Francis Uzoho’s error allowed Thomas Partey to open the scoring for Ghana early in the second leg. William Troost-Ekong levelled from the penalty spot, but Nigeria missed several clear chances to win the match at the Moshood Abiola Stadium.
There had been signs of trouble before the match as crushes had built up outside the 60,000-capacity stadium barely an hour before kick-off, with thousands of ticketless fans approaching different gates.
There was a surge and stampede at one of the entrances after police officers began turning fans away. A journalist who tried to capture the scene was allegedly attacked by the police.
At the final whistle, fans reacted to the result by throwing objects at both the small group of visiting fans and the Ghana players, and invaded the pitch – where both sets of players were left to battle their own way towards the tunnel as fans charged at them. Fans also smashed the doors leading to the presidential box and overturned two dugouts.
The police hit the pitch invaders with their batons, and fired tear gas on the pitch to disperse them.
Cars parked outside the stadium were vandalised and properties stolen, while some vehicles parked near the exit doors had windows, wing mirrors and lights smashed. Attacks outside the ground were reported by local media, with some fans having their mobile phones stolen.
