Former Nigeria goalkeeper Shorunmu recalls rivalry with Ghana

Ike Shorunmu has narrated what happened to him on February 3, 2002, during an AFCON quarter-final match against Ghana’s Black Stars in Bamako, Mali.

According to Ike it was a day he would never like to happen after losing consciousness after colliding with a Ghanaian player during the game, which Nigeria eventually won to an 80th-minute goal by Garba Lawal.

For obvious reasons, the former Super Eagles goalkeeper recalls Nigeria’s 1-0 triumph over Ghana in the AFCON quarterfinals in Mali in 2002 as his most memorable moment playing against the Black Stars.

“The rivalry between Nigeria and Ghana has been an on-going thing for so long,” Shorunmu, the former Stationery Stores goalkeeper told NationSport.“ This (play-off fixture ) is a match Nigeria has to win because if we don’t, Ghana would have bragging rights over us.”

“The atmosphere playing with Ghana is always tensed because I can remember when we played them in the quarterfinals of the 2002 AFCON in Mali, I was in goal,”

“Before the game, we told ourselves that we had to be focused and tighten ourselves and not let the Ghanaians have a feel of the ball. Thank God , we tried our best and at the end of the day, we were victorious,”

“The most memorable moment I have played against the Black Stars would be the same quarterfinals of the AFCON in Mali in 2002 because that was the game I was unconscious and I was rushed out of the game to the hospital,”

“ I didn’t even know we had won the match until I gained consciousness in the hospital,” he ended.