Meteors, Nigeria in battle of survival

The Black Meteors will today play their Nigerian counterparts in a match for survival at the newly-built Stade De Unity in Kintele, Brazzaville.

Coach Malik Jabir is expected to maintain the team which drew 0-0 with Senegal in the opening match but could tinker with his tactical approach to this game.

Winger Richard Gedzie and forward Dauda Mohammed are expected to lead the attack, while midfielder Natif Anabila, who has been passed fit after a slight injury, will also start.

Coach Jabir told the Graphic Sports Tuesday that the team was ready for the arduous task and should get their act right in today's encounter.

"We have studied what went wrong in our match against Senegal and these mistakes would be corrected in today's match," he said.

He was hopeful Ghana would qualify to the semi-final although he predicted tough encounter at the Olympic Stadium.

Today’s Group B game is a must-win for the Ghanaian side in a pool that has been reduced to three teams following the late withdrawal of Egypt.

Captain Lawrence Lartey told the Graphic Sports the team was well psyched up to beat Nigeria and promised Ghana would stay in the ongoing tournament.

Today's encounter is Nigeria's first match in the All Africa Games and Coach Samson Siasia will leave no stone unturned to lead a victory against Ghana to get a firm grip at qualification to the semi-finals.

Tottenham Hotspur striker Musa Yahaya and Enyimba forwar Peter Onyekachi are likely to start in attack for the Nigerians in their quest to get off to a good start with victory against Ghana.

Both teams have won the competition once with Ghana winning gold at the 2011 games in Maputo. But Nigeria is determined to bury the ghost that has been haunting them for 42 years since they first won the competition.