Nigeria Football Federation are not letting up in their desire to ensure that Black Stars of Ghana play the Super Eagles during next month’s FIFA international date. They are now going after their West African neighbours with a $150,000 (about N21m) carrot they hope would tempt their counterpart federation, Ghana Football Association (GFA) into putting them ahead of any other suitors for the day. The friendly match between both sworn rivals that was first touted just before Christmas appears to be becoming a mirage as the Ghanaians have been listening to alternative offers from Egypt, who also obviously want the Black Stars for their Pharaohs on the same day. Egyptian FA want the match against the Black Stars to take place at the Cairo International Stadium. GFA chairman Kwesi Nyanktayi confirmed to the local media last week that they were also studying the Egyptian offer. The failure of the Ghanaians to categorically make their position known as requested by the Nigerian federation has prompted the latter to alert Zambia, Jamaica and Sudan, as the non utilisation of the international window could have some effects on the Eagles who will travel to Mozambique in March to begin the final phase of their World Cup preparation. Glass House sources reveal Nigerian officials are still in contact with the GFA and are ready to offer more money in order to push back the Egyptian offer. If the Ghanaians yield to the Nigerian overtures, the match will be played in Calabar, because the government of the Cross River State has made a solid request towards hosting it. However, despite the preference of the Nigerian federation to a Ghana date on February 11, fans in Ghana preferred their team to play the Pharaohs who are the reigning African champions. For most Ghanaian fans, the feeling seems to be that Egypt are currently the stronger side and would therefore provide stiffer oppositions in the throes of the World Cup Qualifier campaign. The Black Stars are billed to battle Mali, Benin and Sudan in Group C for the sole ticket of that group to South Africa 2010. Apart from this, fans in Ghana are, also, of the belief that another showdown with Nigeria, so soon after the last one, may be a bit on the early side for such bitter rivals. The two countries have met on four occasions at different levels, in the last two years, with Ghana winning three times. Source: Thisdayonline.com