Julius OkorieThe dream of Black Galaxies of Ghana to book a place in the next edition of Championship of African Nations (CHAN), hit the rocks with a bang following a 3-1 thrashing by Eagles of Nigeria on Saturday.
Black Galaxies apparently desperate to turn the table after a goalless draw in the first leg in Accra took the battle to their hosts at the Uyo Stadium in the early part of the encounter dominating possession to the ratio of 56% to 46%.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelThe massive attack however failed to achieve the needed result as Eagles shot into the lead as early as the 18th minute. Another 21st and 25th minute goals, gave the Eagles a commanding lead that was maintained till the end of the first 45minutes.
On resumption of hostilities in the second half the Black Galaxies reduced the tally to leave score line at 3-1.
Rather than reduced the tempo however the Eagles popped up the volume reversing the possession ration 57% to 43% as they attempted to further fetch more goals.
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The victory did not only grant Eagles safe passage to the next edition of the championship, but also broke the jinx of non-qualification for the last six editions.
Eagles’ goals came from Sodiq Ismail, Nduka Junior and Saviour Isaac while Ghana’s consolation goal came from Stephen Amenkona in the 73rd minute.
The eighth CHAN tournament will be hosted by Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda, from February 1-28, 2025.
Ghana’s failure to qualify for the tournament is another blow for the West African neighbours who equally failed to qualify for the next AFCON in Morocco, while as it is double delight for Nigeria qualifying for AFCON and CHAN respectively.
Nigeria is yet to win CHAN title now in its 8th edition; she however finished third at the 2014 edition in South Africa before losing the final against hosts Morocco four years later.
The team will be hoping to improve on the feat achieved in Morocco.
Julius Okorie is Chief Sports and Entertainment Correspondent for Prime Business Africa. He began his journalism career with the Champion Newspaper and Sporting Champion and later moved on to Daily Independent and the Nation Newspapers. Okorie joined Prime Business Africa in 2024 bringing on board 20 years of experience in writing investigative news on Sports and Entertainment. His well researched and highly informative articles on Sports Business and general entertainment are followed by a wide range of audience.
