Nigeria and Cameroon will renew their Africa Cup of Nations rivalry in a round of 16 clash of the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations at the Felix Houphouet Boigny Stadium on Saturday (today) in Ivory Coast.
The Eagles finished second behind Equatorial Guinea in Group
A, while Rigobert Song’s men relied on a late 3-2 comeback win against The
Gambia to progress behind Senegal in Group C.
The Eagles will be aiming to avoiding another round of 16
AFCON exit as they were dumped out at this stage by Tunisia at the last edition
in Cameroon.
And in a bid to reach his first ever AFCON quarter-final,
Jose Peseiro has hinted that he will maintain the 3-4-3 formation that saw his
team edge past both AFCON hosts Ivory Coast and Guinea Bissau by the odd goal.
This system evolves to five defenders (three centre backs
and two full backs) when the team are defending to the frustration of the other
team.
Peseiro is also expected to keep faith with mostly the same
players who have got the team to this stage of the competition. This means
means that the trio William Troost-Ekong – if fit, Alex Iwobi and Ademola
Lookman are expected to be recalled to the starting line-up for the encounter.
Speaking ahead of the game, Peseiro revealed that he won’t
be changing his team against the Indomitable Lions.
“At least one goal, we’ll attack well and defend together,
you do that and we win,” Peseiro said.
“I have studied many of the matches between both teams but
tomorrow (today) our objective is to win
the match.
“I will try to stick with what I have been doing and hope
our players start scoring more goals soon. The statistics say we are the team
with the most goalscoring opportunities, and for that I cannot change my team
or formation.”
Peseiro’s side has struggled for goals at tournament,
netting three times despite heading into the knockout stage as the
competition’s top creators, fashioning more clear-cut chances (13) than the
other 23 sides.
The Nigerian Football Federation Technical Director, Austin
Eguavoen, who was on-field captain for the squad that won the 1994 AFCON in
Tunisia, believes that the Eagles can soar over the Indomitable Lions if they
play with flair and flexibility.
“Cameroon will always come with determination and
grit,”Eguavoen said.
“The Eagles have to be even more prepared for them and
deploy the greater flair and flexibility that we have.”
Meanwhile, Cameroon’s head coach, Rigobert Song, has
revealed that he is aware of the threat Nigeria poses to his team’s chances of
reaching the quarter-final and was swift to add that a comprehensive strategy
is in place to curtail the fearsome attack of the Eagles led by Victor Osimhen.
Song, converted the decisive penalty in a shoot-out at the
2000 AFCON final in Nigeria after extra time scores were level at 2-2.
The former Liverpool, West Ham United and Galatasaray player
acknowledged Osimhen’s prowess, hailing him as a “wonderful striker”.
However, he swiftly shifted the narrative, emphasising that
the concentration of his team is not singularly on Osimhen but extends to the
entire Nigerian squad.
“We have strong respect for Nigeria because they’re a very
good side. “But we have our plans in place on how to approach this game.
“We respect him (Osimhen). He’s a wonderful striker. But our
concentration is not just on him. It is on the entire team. We know what we
need to do, and our strategy is in place. We know that our main focus is for
Nigeria. They are a strong team. We are doing everything because we are here to
win.”
With reports pointing to the return of Vincent Aboubakar
from injury, Cameroon could be tempted to play the centre-forward from the
start against the Eagles.
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