BY KUNLE SOLAJA.

Duels of Nigeria and Tunisia are often fiercely contested. So fierce that Sports Village Square reports that two of the encounters have resulted in walkouts. Some had to be decided by tie-breakers while others left national ego badly bruised. 

The two teams engage in a friendly match on Tuesday, the first time both will clash outside African shores. Sports Village Square presents the following amazing facts:

• It is Tunisia that Nigerian football legend, Austin Okocha scored the milestone 1,000^th goal of the Africa Cup of Nations history. The goal came from the penalty spot in a 4-0 defeat of South Africa in Monastir.

• Both Nigeria and Tunisia suffered the same fate at the last Africa Cup of Nations semi-finals. Both conceded late goals and were condemned to battle for the third place as they did 41 years earlier at Ghana 1978.

• Nigeria and Tunisia scored own goals in their respective semi-final matches at the 2019 Afcon. Tunisia’s loss was occasioned by the after regulation time own goal conceded by Dyran Bronn in the match with Senegal. In the same direction of goal post, where William Troost-Ekong scored Nigeria’s late winner against South Africa in the quarter finals, he turned the ball into his goal net in the semi-final match against Algeria.

• Own-goal is not strange to both Nigeria and Tunisia. The most recalled encounter of Nigeria and Tunisia has an own goal as an indelible memory when Godwin Odiye infamously headed the ball into his goal net in Nigeria’s last qualifying match for the Argentina ’78 World Cup. Even Nigerian football fans not born at the time grew up to know about the November 12, 1977 own goal that denied Nigeria World Cup qualification on home soil.

• Both teams have staged walkout in previous encounters. Nigerian players walked out in their Africa Cup qualifiers against Tunisia on 10 December 1961 in Tunis, CAF awarded the match to Tunisia.  Tunisia staged a walkout in the third place match of Afcon 1978 when Baba Otu Mohammed scored a goal that leveled scores at 1-1. CAF Awarded the match to Nigeria.

• Nigeria’s 100^th goal in the Africa Cup of Nation’s history was scored by Obinna Nsofor in the quarter finals against Tunisia at Port Said, Egypt in on 4 February 2006. Final score line after extra time was 1-1. Nigeria prevailed 6-5 in Penalty shootout.

• Till date, Nigeria’s national team has been involved in 11 penalty shootout situations. But the first time Nigeria got involved in a penalty shootout was a World Cup qualifying match with Tunisia on 12 July 1980. With Aggregate score line at 2-2, penalty shootout was employed. Nigeria won 4-3.

• When Kadiri Ikhana missed his kick in Nigeria’s penalty shootout with Tunisia on 12 July 1980, he became the first national team players to do so.

• Of the eleven penalty shootout situations involving the Super Eagles of Nigeria, three of them had been in duels with Tunisia in 1980, 2004 and 2006. It was only in the11 February  2004 situation in Rades, Tunisia that won 6-3 after 1-1 scoreline.

• Nigerian football legend, Nwankwo Kanu played in six consecutive Africa Cup of Nations editions from 2000 to 2010. He only found the net once in a penalty shootout with Tunisia in 2006 quarterfinal match.

• Nigeria’s World Cup qualifying match against Tunisia on 12 November 1977 was the last international engagements for the duo of Nigeria rear guards, Patrick Ekeji and Samuel Ojebode.

• Until the 2010 World Cup qualifiers, Nigeria missed all editions of World Cup in which Tunisia fell in the country’s fixtures. First Tunisia eliminated Nigeria from Argentina’ 78 qualifiers. Even after eliminating Tunisia, Nigeria still missed qualifying for Spain ’82. Tunisia eliminated Nigeria from Mexico ’86 qualifiers.

• Tunisia was the first team to eliminate Nigeria from Africa Cup of Nations qualification when Nigeria staged a walkout in the return leg of the 1962 qualifiers alleging bad officiating. Score line at the time stood at 2-2, but Nigeria led 4-3 on aggregate. Match was awarded to Tunisia.

• Apart from the 7-0 defeat on Nigeria by Gold Coast (now Ghana) in 1955, the next heaviest defeat on Nigeria was by Tunisia; a 5-0 defeat in a 29 September 1984 friendly match.

• Former Nigeria coach, Chris Udemezue had his baptism of fire as Nigeria’s coach when his team was walloped 5-0 by Tunisia in a friendly match in 1984. At the time, Adegboye Onigbinde who led Nigeria to the final of 1984 Africa Cup of Nations had been cleverly eased out to assist Shooting Stars in prosecuting club continental assignment.

• Figure six is prominent in Nigeria’s upstaging of Tunisia to grab the 2010 FIFA World Cup ticket. First to be noted is the fact that the Nigerian player that scored an own goal that put an end to Nigeria’s Argentina 1978 World Cup qualification was Godwin Odiye, who wore shirt number six. Sports Village Square notes that six was the number of African teams at South Africa 2010. Six was the number of teams that Nigeria played to qualify. Six was number of matches Nigeria played in the final lap. Six was the number of matches Nigeria had had with Tunisia before the 2010 World Cup qualifiers. Six was the minute that Tunisia scored against Kenya in Nairobi to take the lead in Group B ahead of Nigeria, Mozambique and Kenya. Sixth was the last game Tunisia played to relinquish the group leadership to Nigeria. Six was the number of minutes remaining in Tunisia’s ill-fated match with Mozambique in Maputo before the North Africans conceded the goal that earned Nigeria the World Cup ticket.
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NIGERIA vs. TUNISIA: HEAD-TO-HEAD

          P        W        D        L        F        A

Tunisia            16       4         5         7    13      20

Nigeria            16       7         5         4       20        13

• 25 Nov.1961 (Afconq) Nigeria 2-1 Tunisia
• 10 Dec. 1961 (Afconq) Tunisia 2-2 Nigeria  *inconclusive (Nigeria walked out).
• 25 Sept. 1977 (WCq) Tunisia 0-0 Nigeria
• 12 Nov. 1977 (WCq) Nigeria 0-1 Tunisia
• 16 Mar. 1978 (Afcon) Tunisia 0-2 Nigeria (w/o) (actual scores 1-1 before Tunisians walked out)*.
• 26 June. 1980 (WCq) Tunisia 2-0 Nigeria
• 12 Jul. 1980 (WCq) Nigeria 2-0 Tunisia * (2-2 on aggregate: Nigeria won penalty shoot-out 4-3).
• 29 Sept. 1984 (F) Tunisia 5-0 Nigeria
• 6 Jul. 1985 (WCq) Nigeria 1-0 Tunisia
• 20 Jul. 1985 (WCq) Tunisia 2-0 Nigeria
• 22 Feb. 1992 (SCSA) Tunisia 1-1 Nigeria
• 9 Aug.1997 (LG Cup) Tunisia 2-0 Nigeria
• 23. Jan.2000 (Afcon) Nigeria 4-2 Tunisia
• 11. Feb.2004 (Afcon) Nigeria 1 -1Tunisia   *Tunisia won 6-3 in penalty shoot out
• 4. Feb 2006 Tunisia 1-1 Nigeria (6-5pen)
• 20 June 2009 (WCq) Tunisia 0-0 Nigeria
• 6 Sept. 2009 (WCq) Nigeria 2-2 Tunisia
• 17 July 2019 (Afcon) Nigeria 1-0 Tunisia

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