AFCON: Nigeria and Cameroon To Renew Their Africa Cup of Nations Rivalry Today

AFCON: Nigeria and Cameroon To Renew Their Africa Cup of Nations Rivalry Today

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.

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.”