•Super Eagles
Though history favours the Super Eagles to win today’s epic clash against the Indomitable Lions of Cameroun in Abidjan, for a majority of Nigerian football fans, the Camerounians equally have what it takes to carry the day.
At Egypt 2019 AFCON, the Super Eagles eliminated the Indomitable Lions in the City of Alexandra, winning 3-2 in the round of 16 on a night the host, Egypt, were beaten by the Bafana Bafana of South Africa in Cairo, reports The Guardian.
Nigeria and Cameroun are meeting once again in another round of 16, and the Indomitable Lions have vowed never to allow a repeat of Egypt 2019.
The Lions, with their returnee captain, Vincent Aboubakar, as well as Clinton Njie, have vowed to fight with ‘everything’ in today’s ‘operation stop Super Eagles’ in Cote d’Ivoire. Aboubakar and Njie arrived in Abidjan with the team on Thursday night.
The two teams finished in second place in Group A and C respectively, and their clash at the Felix Houphouet Boigny Stadium today is seen as one of the biggest showdowns in this year’s AFCON. The match will start from 9.00 p.m.
The encounter is now the talk of the town, with the many Nigerian fans rolling out all sorts of permutations.
According to the proprietor of Cable Football Academy, Coach Edwin Onovwotafe, he foresees the Eagles smiling at the end of the tie. “It will be a great match, no doubt, but I see the Super Eagles winning,” he told our correspondent yesterday.
Another Nigerian fan, who gave his name as Usman, said on a radio sports programme monitored in Lagos that he foresees the game going into a penalty. “It might end in a penalty shootout, which could be anybody’s game.”
However, a popular religious leader and football enthusiast, Prophetess Elizabeth, has said the future of the Super Eagles at the AFCON is blurry and may end in today’s encounter with the Indomitable Lions.
According to npflupdates.com, Elizabeth, who has on several occasions canvassed support for the Super Eagles and other Nigerian footballers, expressed fear Nigeria may not survive the Indomitable Lions.
The religious leader revealed she had dreamt about the elimination of the Super Eagles by Cameroun. “I feel disturbed Nigeria may never get past the Cameroonians. This I saw in a dream, but it looked more real. I have never felt like this before after a dream. Saturday (today) may be the end of the road for a fourth title, except in a case of divine intervention,” she said.
Super Eagles head coach José Peseiro, is positive, saying that striker, Victor Osimhen will end two-match goal-drought against Cameroon today.
On his part, Cameroon Coach Rigobert Song says his team would not pay all attention on Super Eagles striker, Victor Osimhen alone in today’s AFCON showdown.
In a pre-match press conference, yesterday, Coach Song displayed a respectful acknowledgment of Osimhen’s prowess, hailing him as a “wonderful striker.” However, he swiftly shifted the narrative, emphasizing that the concentration of his team is not singularly on Osimhen but extends to the entire Nigerian squad. In his words, “We respect him. He’s a wonderful striker. But our concentration is not just on Osimhen; it is on the entire team.”
Osimhen, the current Africa Footballer of the Year, despite having clear goal-scoring opportunities in his last two matches, failed to convert any. And that, has left many supporters puzzled as to why his chances aren’t getting converted into goals.
Nigeria and Cameroun have clashed in 17 competitive matches since their first of such matches in the Osagyefo Kwame Nkrumah Cup on December 8, 1962, which Nigeria won 3-1. Of those 17 matches, Cameroun have won only 4 – three of these in the Final matches of the Africa Cup of Nations in 1984, 1988 and 2000. The only other time Cameroun have beaten Nigeria in a competitive match was on August 27, 1989, when Francois Omam Biyick scored the only goal in Yaounde that eliminated Nigeria from the race to the 1990 FIFA World Cup finals in Italy.
Nigeria have won nine of the other 13 matches, including a 2-1 defeat of Cameroon in the bronze medal-match of the 1992 AFCON; a 2-0 triumph in a 1990 FIFA World Cup qualifier in Ibadan; a 3-2 win in Yaounde in a 1970 World Cup qualifier; a 2-1 win in Monastir in a 2004 AFCON quarter-final; a 4-0 win in Uyo in a 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifier and; a 3-2 win in Alexandria in a 2019 AFCON Round of 16 clash.
