I Will Beat Eagles With Home-based, ...Ghana's Coach Boasts

The Super Eagles may be in for a daunting task when they confront the Black Stars of Ghana on Sunday in a World Cup qualifying match at the Accra Sports Stadium if the words of the Ghanaian coach, Cecil Jones Attuquayefio, are anything to go by.

The Hearts of Oak tactician, who took over the national team job late last year, has sounded it loud and clear that the more experienced Eagles will fall on Sunday.

Attuquayefio, who has come under intense criticism for his failure to include Ghanaian foreign-based players in his team for the epic tie, is cocksure that his wholly home-based team would beat the Eagles on Sunday to restore Ghana's World Cup hopes.

A Ghanaian sportswriter, Samuel Barrington, told PMSport on phone this morning that the Ghanaian coach is so sure that his team will beat the Eagles that he has told the Ghanaian soccer authorities that he is prepared to quit his job if the Black Stars failed to beat the Eagles.

Attuquayefio is said to be banking on team-work, one factor he has found in the home-based players. Aside this, the coach is hoping to cash in on the burning enthusiasm and dedication of the local players, many of who are from the Hearts of Oak's victorious African Champions League team.

Towards this end, the embattled coach is relying on the core of Hearts' attackers and midfielders to beat the Eagles, while complementing the defence with other local players. On paper, the Nigerian team dwarfs their hosts, but history has shown that the Ghanaian local players can hold the best of Nigerian foreign-based players to a standstill.

At their peak, very few African teams can stop the attacking prowess of the Eagles which expectedly will be anchored by the duo of Victor Agali and Kanu Nwankwo, who by now should be in Accra awaiting the arrival of the Eagles from Lome, where they have been training for the past one week for the all-important match.

Nigerian Coach, Jo Bonfrere is optimistic that the team will strike a good balance as all the noticeable loose ends must have been plugged during the one-week training in Lome.

On Sunday, many Nigerians expect nothing short of victory from the Eagles and the performance of some of the players in recent outings in Europe have gone a long way in raising the hope of soccer-loving Nigerians.