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Femi Solaja

Nigeria will clash with hosts Côte d’Ivoire clash in one of the most anticipated matches of the 34th Africa Cup of Nations today, in a 60,000-capacity Stade Olympique Alassane Ouattara in Ebimpe, outside Abidjan today.

Both teams played their first games of the tournament with differing fortunes at the same venue few days ago.

All AFCON 2023 matches will air on Sports Premium, channel  252 or 246, on StarTimes as well as on StarTimes-ON app.

The Elephants celebrated a 2-0 win over Guinea Bissau’s Wild Dogs on the opening day of the tournament, while the Eagles forced Equatorial Guinea’s Thunderto a 1-1 draw 24 hours later.

It has been 40 years since Cote d’Ivoire last hosted African football’s flagship championship. That year, a youthful Nigerian team prevailed over Cup holders Ghana and drew with Malawi and Algeria to reach the semi-finals of an eight-nation competition, before coming from behind to draw 2-2 with Egypt’s Pharaohs and then emerge victorious on penalties in Bouake. They lost the Final 1-3 to Cameroon. Today, the AFCON is a 24-nation final tournament.

There was no Nigeria vs Cote d’Ivoire clash in 1984, with the Elephants given the heave-ho in the group stages, but Cote d’Ivoire has been an ever-present in all AFCON competitions in which Nigeria has emerged champions. 

The two countries clashed in 1980 (also the second match of the group phase as will be today’s encounter), in 1994 (semi-finals) and in 2013, when Cote d’Ivoire’s golden generation shockingly fell to the Super Eagles in an epic quarter-final in Rustenburg.

Nigeria’s goal against Thundercame from the head of Africa Player of the Year, Victor Osimhen, who made his account 21 goals in 28 matches for homeland at senior level, and the Eagles will still set much store by him as they hunt for three crucial points against the two-time champions.

Osimhen was top scorer in qualifying with 10 goals, and is expected to be eager to add to his one goal at the AFCON, having only played a cameo role in 2019 and then missed outright the 2021 finals in Cameroon.

On the two previous occasions that Nigeria arrived at the Africa Cup of Nations with the Africa Player of the Year (1994 and 2000; Rashidi Yekini and Nwankwo Knau respectively), they made it all the way to the Final, winning one and losing the latter on penalties.

At yesterday’s pre-match conference in Abidjan, Coach José Peseiro disclosed that hard-as-nail midfielder, Alhassan Yusuf, who impressed against Thunder on Sunday, is out of reckoning due to injury he copped in the encounter. “Yusuf is out of the game tomorrow. He is fine but not ready for today’s match. He will be ready for the last group match.”

Peseiro stated further: “We have what it takes to win the game tomorrow and there’s nothing to change in my team because we created a lot of goalscoring opportunities in our game against Equatorial Guinea and we hope to utilise the opportunities this time and score goals.”

Captain Max Alain Gradel, who has 105 caps and was part of the Elephants’s squad that won the trophy in Equatorial Guinea in 2015, said: “We are Côte d’Ivoire. We respect all our opponents. But we fear nobody. We will do what we have to do.”