Ghana’s under-23 defender Samuel Inkoom is confident  they can turn around their All Africa Games tie with Nigeria and avoid tumbling out of a place at the Games.

Ghana slumped to a 3-1 defeat in the first leg in Benin City after Nigeria came from behind to score three goals in the second half.

The loss to their rivals in the final round of qualifying for the Games makes the return clash at home a more daunting task with Ghana needing two unanswered goals to edge out Nigeria for the sole ticket from Zone III.

Inkoom, who captained the team, says his side are determined to overturn the deficit.

“After the game I spoke to the players and told them it’s not over until it’s over,” he told BBC Sport.
“Ghana against Nigeria is like a derby game – they may have won but we are going back to Ghana to correct our mistakes.”

Despite the first leg setback, the Ghana captain is buoyed on by the fact that the Black Meteors team has the experience to ensure their place at the Games.

“This team is more like a family – we do everything together [and] we have a lot of experience in the team,” he said.
Coach Akwasi Appiah has blamed fatigue for his side’s 3-1 defeat to Nigeria in the final qualifying round first leg tie.

“We played well in the first half but I think they got tired and lost the fire power in the second half. But we have learnt our lessons and we’ll have to go back and take it from there,” Appiah said.

“We created quite a number of decent chances and we will leave no stone unturned in the second leg to ensure we qualify for the championship.”