2022 World Cup playoff: Nigeria new boy Ademola Lookman insists there is no pressure ahead of Ghana clash

Nigeria forward Ademola Lookman insists his team will not buckle under the weight of expectation ahead of the decisive 2022 World Cup playoff against eternal rivals Ghana on Friday.

The Leicester City man, who won the FIFA Under 20 World Cup with England, has switched allegiance to the powerful West African nation.

He is among a number of star-studded Super Eagles players expected to be unleashed by coach Augustine Eguavoen against the Black Stars.

There is a lot at stake for the explosive two-legged ties to be played at the Baba Yara Stadium in Kumasi and the MKO Stadium in Abuja.

For Lookman, who trained with the three-time African champions for the first time on Wednesday, he and his teammates are not moved by the age-long rivalry between both countries.

“It’s just another game,” Lookman told journalists in Abuja.

“There is a lot of expectations for the game, we don’t have to put any pressure on ourselves but to go out and enjoy ourselves.”

The Nigerians have been talking tough ahead of the crunch double-header both in Ghana and Nigeria this month.

The winner of the tie over two legs will qualify for the Qatar 2022 World Cup.

On Wednesday, March 16, 2022, the Confederation of African Football confirmed the Baba Yara stadium as the venue to host Ghana's crucial first leg encounter against West African rivals Nigeria.

This comes after the inspection team from CAF rejected the Cape Coast stadium, stating it is unfit to host the game on March 25.

The news has been received with great excitement by Ghanaians and this has sent some shivers to Nigerians, knowing the last World Cup playoff game by Ghana ended with a huge victory over Egypt.

The Black Stars whitewashed Egypt 6-1 at the Baba Yara Sports stadium on October 15, 2013, making the second leg in Cairo a mere formality. Ghana qualified for the World Cup in 2014, thanks to the win in Kumasi.

The 6-1 drubbing is not the only famous win by Ghana in Kumasi, a year before the game against Egypt, the Black Stars thrashed Lesotho 7-0 at the same venue.

The Black Stars also defeated Ethiopia 5-0 at the Baba Yara sports stadium during the qualifiers for AFCON 2019. Kumasi produces goals for the Black Stars, hence a reason for the Super Eagles to panic.

Meanwhile, football is considered a religion in the Ashanti Region and when the Black Stars arrive in town they are kingly received.

The fans troop to the stadium in numbers to watch Ghana play all the time, and as usual the 40,000 capacity seater stadium is expected to be filled to the brim.

Ghana will hosts Nigeria on March 25 for the first leg before travelling to Abuja in four days time for the second leg.