They had names but we had a team - Denis Odoi on how Ghana managed to beat Nigeria

Defender Dennis Odoi believes Ghana had a better team than Nigeria during the World Cup playoff.

The Black Stars edged Nigeria to qualify for the World Cup in Qatar via the away goal rule.

The Super Eagles were favourites before the two-legged encounter, having had a better Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon and had all their key players before the Black Stars clash.

However, a weakened Ghana team ended up qualifying for the World Cup ahead of a star-studded Nigerian team.

“They told me [about the rivalry],” Odoi says. “But I think you need to live here to know how real the rivalry is. I knew it was two West African countries that are very close to one another. This big rivalry is about jollof [rice] as well," Odoi told New Frame.

“We were fighting for the World Cup. Obviously, it’s sweet that you win against Nigeria, but no matter which country it was, we needed to win those two games.

“If you look at the Nigeria squad, they had bigger names. But names are not everything. You can have big names, but you need to be a good team, a good squad. And you need to be a cohesive group. I think that, over the two games, we showed them that we as a team were good, and we fight for each other."