Ghana's shift of World Cup tie to Kumasi won't scare Nigeria

LAGOS, Feb 22 (AFP) - Nigerian officials said on Thursday they didn't mind their World Cup qualifier on March 11 with Ghana being switched from Accra to the country's second largest city, Kumasi, by their hosts.

"We have been informed that due to the reconstruction work at the Accra Sports stadium, our match against the Black Stars has now been moved to the Kumasi Stadium," said an official of the Nigeria Football Association (NFA).

"The change of venue is okay by us. We would have been surprised if Ghana are not doing everything possible to win this match," added the official, speaking under condition of anonymity.

The Accra Stadium was the scene of crowd trouble during last year's African Champions Cup final between Hearts of Oak of Ghana and Esperance of Tunisia.

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) moved the Super Cup final involving Hearts of Oak and Egypt's Zamalek from Accra to Kumasi as a result of this incident.

Ghana last hosted the Super Eagles in a qualifying match for the 1992 African Nations Cup. The host team won 1-0.

Nigeria with six points from three games currently top Group B of the qualifying series for the 2002 World Cup ahead of Liberia and Ghana.