On Monday, or today, the Super Eagles of Nigeria will take on Guinea-Bissau in the hopes of advancing from their Africa Cup of Nations Group A with at least a draw.
After winning 0-1 against Ivory Coast and drawing 1-1 with Equatorial Guinea in their opening two matches, Nigeria is ranked second in Group A.
Despite losing their opening two games, Guinea-Bissau will try to shock the Eagles when they play at Felix Houphouet-Boigny Stadium.
Get Instantly Update By: Joining Our Whatapps and Telegram Channel
Indeed, this match will serve as our benchmark. Coach Baciro Condé of Guinea-Bissau stated, “We hope to make a success of our exit in the absence of having had a good tournament. We have thoroughly analysed the Super Eagles’ game.”
Eagles forward Victor Osimhen stated that his team would watch the film of their defeat to Guinea-Bissau and devise a plan to defeat their fellow West Africans.
“We played them in the qualifying series, so we know them.” If you let them play, they are a dangerous team,” Osimhen said to reporters in Abidjan.”
However, Nigeria is adamant about not suffering the same shocking 1-0 loss to Guinea-Bissau as they did in the 2023 AFCON qualifying group stage last year.
“The here and now is what counts. Our attention is on the here and now. We believe in our own abilities. Super Eagles coach José Peseiro emphasized, “We are aiming for first place, which is also occupied by Equatorial Guinea and Cote d’Ivoire. It is up to us to remain vigilant.”
The team’s only goal, according to defender Kenneth Omeruo, is to win the AFCON trophy in Ivory Coast.
“We know exactly what we want to accomplish. Take the cup inside. We haven’t added a trophy to our cabinet in a while, which is inappropriate when you’re wearing a green shirt, Omeruo said.
“I won’t claim that our loss to them was a coincidence, but it doesn’t represent the mindset that permeates our camp right now. We must do everything in our power to realize our goals because we are ravenous for victory,” he continued.
On the other side, on Monday (today) at the Alassane Ouattara Stadium in Ebimpe, hosts Ivory Coast plays Equatorial Guinea in a match that they absolutely must win.
The Elephants must win all three points in order to automatically move on to the competition’s knockout stages following their devastating 1-0 loss to Nigeria.
If they lose, the Ivorians, who have supported the host nation admirably in both of their matches, will be extremely disappointed.
For fans of the AFCON, both Group A matches will be played simultaneously at 6 p.m. (Nigerian time) and promise to be very exciting.