2022 World Cup playoffs: Black Stars players were scared of Victor Osimhen – Nigeria defender Troost-Ekong

Nigeria defender William Troost-Ekong says Black Stars players were scared of in-form Napoli striker Victor Osimhen in their first leg tie of the 2022 FIFA World Cup final play-offs.

Ghana and Nigeria played out a 0-0 stalemate on Friday at the Baba Yara Sports stadium in Kumasi.

Osimhen has been in red hot form in the Serie A for Napoli, scoring 11 goals in 20 games but failed to find the back of the net against Ghana despite impressing throughout the game.

“I think it’s also a great work from Ghana that they figured it out, the defenders, the wings as well,” William Troost-Ekong said after the game.

“But I think that everyone was quite scared of Victor [Osimhen]. “There were two against one most of the time.

“But we’ve learnt from today and we will try to exploit the defence in a different way.

“We must be clinical and against a good team like Ghana, you might get two or three good chances and you have to score otherwise you can’t win a game against them.”

The reverse fixture will take place at the Moshood Abiola stadium in Abuja on Tuesday, March 29, 2022 with the winner set to represent the continent at the global showpiece which is scheduled to take place from November 21 to December 18.

The Super Eagles are seeking to qualify for the global showpiece a 7th time and, since 1994, have missed only one of seven editions. The last of three appearances by Ghana was in 2014.