You have to live here to appreciate Ghana vs. Nigeria rivalry - Denis Odoi

The football rivalry between the Black Stars of Ghana and the Super Eagles of Nigeria is well known on the continent and around the world.

According to Ghana defender Denis Odoi if you don't live in Ghana or Nigeria you will never feel the intensity and apart from football, the next big rivalry is about jollof rice.

Odoi made his debut for Ghana’s Black Stars in March against Nigeria in the World Cup playoff doubleheader.

“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.

“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.”

Otto Addo and his lads secured the ticket to the Mundial which will be held in Qatar.

“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,” he added.

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