Nigeria forward Sadiq Umar says he’s been thinking about the crucial World Cup play-offs between the Super Eagles and the Black Stars of Ghana, which will take place on 25 and 29 March.
The storied rivalry between Nigeria and Ghana will have another installment when both nations square off on Friday, for the first leg, for a place at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
“I can see that everyone has been talking about it,” Umar, who just joined the Super Eagles at their camp, told Omasports. “Even me, I’ve been thinking about it because it’s our life. I hope we go there ready and ready to give everything from the first to the second game.”
Umar, 25, who featured at the Nations Cup in Cameroon earlier in the year, acknowledged the strength of the Ghanaian team, and says the Super Eagles will have to be “smart and ready.”
“In football, you have to be smart, ready tactically, physically, ready 100%. I hope we go there 100% ready.”
The squad list for the play-offs was released earlier in the month and Umar, who plays club football for Almeria in Spain, will face stiff competition for a starting spot from the likes of Victor Osimhen and Odion Ighalo. The striker, however, heaped praise on his teammates and says he’s only looking forward to being with them.
“You know, both of them [Osimhen and Ighalo] are top players,” Umar said. “They’ve already shown it. Even Victor [Osimhen] is still showing it and that’s what the country needs- players like him and also like Odion. They give a lot to the country and I’m just trying to go there and enjoy myself with them and I’m looking forward to that.”
