Ghana Hold Nigeria to qualify

Ghana on Sunday qualifed for the Championship of African Nations (CHAN) in Ivory Coast after they played out a goalless draw with arch-rivals Nigeria in the southern Nigerian town of Calabar

Ghana qualified on a 3-2 aggregate

The home-based Black Stars overcame a two-goal deficit to win a first-leg thriller 3-2 in the final regional qualifying round for the new competition to be hosted by the Ivory Coast over two weeks next February and March.

Both teams failed to score in the second leg played on Sunday

Nigeria effected several changes to the team that lost a forthnight ago in Accra with the likes of Chibuzor Okonkwo and Stephen Worgu coming into the starting line-up as they aimed for a home victory.

Two-goal hero in Accra, Kabiru Musa, played something of a stinker and coach Okey Emordi was forced to pull out the lanky Kano Pillars striker mid-way through the second half as unhappy fans continued to boo his every move.

Resolute defending by the Ghanaians and poor finishing by the Nigerian attack combined to deny Nigeria a chance to feature at the CHAN finals in February in Abidjan.

It was largely a disjointed performance by the Nigerians and this was further compounded when promising Henry Uche was replaced in the second half, with Ghana then beginning to take control of the midfield and launch counter attacks into the Nigerian area.

In another CHAN qualifier, Senegal advanced to the finals tournament after they beat Guinea 3-1 on penalties after both teams were tied on 1-1 over two legs.

Alpha Omar scored Senegal's winner in Dakar to bring aggregate scores to 1-1.

Ghana lineup: Philemon McCarthy, Samuel Inkoom, Habib Mohammed, Ofosu Appiah, Godfred Yeboah, Daniel Yeboah, Jordan Opoku, Edmund Owusu-Ansah/Osei Bonsu, Yaw Antwi/Richard Atika, Agyemang Badu, Francis Coffie/Kojo Poku