Ghana had to come from two goals to beat Nigeria 3-2 in the first leg final qualifying for the African Nations Championships at the Ohene Djan Stadium on Sunday.
Francis Coffie scored two goals put the Black Stars at par with the Nigerians after Musa Kabiru had given the away side a comfortable two-zero lead by the 44th minute of the first half before Samuel Inkoom won the day for Ghana when he grabbed the winner in the 75th minute.
Milovan Rajevac’s side may still have a mammoth task ahead of them, with the Nigerians having scored two important goals, as the away goal rule would play a part in the second leg match in a fortnight which would be the decider for the sole ticket to the finals in the Ivory Coast next February.
The Ghanaian bench had stated before today’s match that the Black Stars needed at least a two-goal lead from the first leg but the Nigerians worked hard for their goals as Ghana looked unconvincing in the opening half.
The first real chance fell to Ghana but the final pass to Yaw Antwi was cut out as the Nigerians quickly established control of the game. Ghana failed to match the physical presence by their opponents.
Nigeria were enjoying a good spell and broke quickly on the left, Ghana failed to halt their run and the ball was cut across the face goal beating goalkeeper Fatau Dauda. The ball rolled into the path of Musa Kabiru who poked home from six yards out in the 21st minute.
The Ghana bench made a first change when Jordan Opoku was pulled out for Edmund Owusu-Peprah.
As the minutes ticked to the end of the first half, Musa Kabiru, unmarked, rose to head in a cross floated to the far post, beating Fatau Dauda in the 43rd minute.
Two minutes of added time and Francis Coffie started Ghana’s revival when he rifled in a shot into the roof of the net to end the half 2-1.
Having managed to pull a goal back, Ghana started the second period as the much better of the two sides.
And 15 minutes into the half, Ghana drew level when Francis Coffie raced down the left onto a pass from Eric Bekoe, surged into the box and struck a shot which deflected off his marker into the near post, beating the Nigerian goalkeeper, who had come off his line to attempt a save.
At 2-2 and the Ghana bench made a second substitution, bringing on Kojo Poku for Eric Bekoe.
The new man set up the match winner in the 75th minute, after exchanging passes with right-full-back Samuel Inkoom, he laid the ball into the box for Inkoom, who dummied a marker before hitting the ball past the goalkeeper to make it 3-2 for Ghana.
With Nigeria still stunned, Ghana introduced Alex Asamoah for Yaw Antwi and the striker nearly scored the fourth but the Nigerian goalkeeper managed to pluck the ball from his feet.
The expected Ghana fightback had paid off but the Black Stars would need to play a much better game in the return game to really see their hopes of playing in the first-ever CHAN tournament materialize.
Ivory Coast will host the maiden competition from the 22nd February-8th March 2009.
The Africa Nations Championships is a new tournament designed by Caf for only home-based players of its member countries.
Ghana line up:
Fatau Dauda, Samuel Inkoom, Habib Mohammed, Ofosu Appiah, Godfred Yeboah, Daniel Yeboah, Agyemang Badu, Jordan Opoku/Edmund Owusu-Peprah, Francis Coffie, Yaw Antwi/Alex Asamoah, Eric Bekoe/Kojo Poku