VIDEO: Super Eagles players ‘jump off’ plane in Kumasi

Beyond winning on the pitch, the Super Eagles may have to brace up for some ‘hostile’ tactics from their host, Ghana, ahead of Friday’s crucial first-leg World Cup playoff tie at the Baba Yara Stadium in Kumasi.

The Super Eagles’ arrival at the Kumasi Airport Thursday afternoon wasn’t devoid of drama as viral videos showed the Nigerian contingent hopping down from their chartered aircraft having been provided with substandard airstairs after touching down.

The expression on the faces of most of the players was a mixture of fear and bewilderment.

https://twitter.com/ColinUdoh/status/1506964607004561412

While many saw the substandard airstairs provided as deliberate, others especially locals explained that the Kumasi Airport which is majorly for domestic flights did not have fitting airstairs for Nigeria’s gigantic aircraft.

Here are some of the reactions on Twitter to the whole airstairs drama

A user, Bra Baiden, with the handle @BAIDENGH wrote: Talk blah blah, Your team should have drive from Accra to Kumasi 5hrs drive upon your request that you want to land at Kumasi bcos we are brothers we accepted and now you blaming Ghana. Such big planes don’t land in Kumasi so give credit to Ghana authorities.

Another user, Moore Michael, with the handle @GoalkingMichael wrote: Bro it is not deliberate Kumasi is not an international Airport….Nigeria choose to fly there direct with a big plane…only small planes land in Kumasi that’s why this happened….doing this will not make any difference

Blankson with @Mr_Blankson1 aslo echoed similar sentiments as he wrote: “ Bro.Ghanaians are very friendly. And Nigeria is like our second home. It’s just unfortunate that the Kumasi airport doesn’t have the international standards yet. It’s only smaller planes that land there. It’s been renovated. Kindly bare with us. all love.🙏🏾❤️

However, Ademola A with the handle @dexterb2k interpreted Thursday’s incident differently and wrote: “This is just d beginning…our boys should be prepared for d worst reception. They should watch what they touch, do n go very carefully. They can’t afford 2 loose guards in GH

Ghana and Nigeria are battling it out for one of the five tickets to represent Africa at the Qatar World Cup in November. The first leg kicks off at 8:30 p.m. Nigeria time on Friday, March 25.