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AFCON

On This Day, The Super Eagles Have Their Destiny In Their Hands –

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Super Eagles Fly To Bouake On Tuesday -

BY KUNLE SOLAJA.

The assignment at hand for the Super Eagles on Monday is very simple. All they need to do is to focus on their match and deliver. They do not have to depend on results elsewhere if they can beat Guinea Bissau.

They have lesser pressure to contend with than the one both Cote d’Ivoire and Equatorial Guinea will be facing. A win gives the Super Eagles the leadership of the group if Equatorial Guinea fail to beat the hosts, Cote d’Ivoire who need a win to rank second in the event of Nigeria’s win.

A win by Equatorial Guinea may compound the woes of the hosts who may have to depend on the lottery of third place qualifiers.

Monday’s match will be the fifth encounter of Nigeria and Guinea Bissau who are arithmetically out of top two position. Both Nigeria and Guinea Bissau met in two qualifying matches for this edition and had also met in the last edition played in Cameroon.

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Before then both teams had met in the ancient past when Guinea Bissau Portuguese Guinea. In October 1960, they met in a four-nation tournament in which Nigeria beat Portuguese Guinea 4-1.

Tale of the past:  

  • 2 October 1960 (Nkrumah Cup):  Nigeria 4-1 Guinea Bissau (Portuguese Guinea)
  • 19 January 2022 (AFCON): Guinea Bissau 0-2 Nigeria
  • 24 March 2023 (AFCON qualifiers): Nigeria 0-1 Guinea Bissau
  • 27  March 2023 (AFCON qualifiers):  Guinea Bissau 0-1 Nigeria

 

Kunle Solaja is the author of landmark books on sports and journalism as well as being a multiple award-winning journalist and editor of long standing. He is easily Nigeria’s foremost soccer diarist and Africa's most capped FIFA World Cup journalist, having attended all FIFA World Cup finals from Italia ’90 to Qatar 2022. He was honoured at the Qatar 2022 World Cup by FIFA and AIPS.

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AFCON

Hurray, Super Eagles back to winning ways!

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What a turn-around! After four previous competitive matches without a win, the Super Eagles have regained their winning mentality after a 3-0 defeat of Benin Republic in their opening 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying series.

The win also put the Super Eagles at the top of the Group D after both Libya and Rwanda played 1-1 draw last Thursday.

It is also the biggest win by the Super Eagles since their 2023 6-0 win over Sao Tome & Principe last year September.

Great man Ademola Lookman, he put in two goals straightening the possibility of his emerging as 2024 African Footballer of the Year.

 The current title holder, Victor Osimhen proved his mettle coming off  the bench in the second half to double Nigeria’s lead after Lookman’s late first half goal.

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 The Super Eagles will now honour their next fixture against Rwanda on Tuesday with the hope of consolidating their lead.

 Benin Republic with no points and a deficit of three goals are rooted at the bottom of the log.

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AFCON

‘Oh Come All Ye Faithful!’, Rev Ikpea calls on football fans to rally round Super Eagles

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BY JOSEPH ODOEKWU

The National Chairman of the Nigerian Football Supporters Club (NFSC), Rev. Samuel Ikpea has called on all Nigerians to rally round and pray for the Super Eagles ahead of Saturday’s Morocco 2025 AFCON qualifier against Benin Republic in Uyo.

 

Ikpea who is mobilizing support for the Super Eagles ahead of the clash in Uyo said that whatever Benin Republic come with both spiritually and physically in the game, we will surely overcome them.

 

“In the NFSC we have Christians, Muslims as well as those who believe in traditional worship and we respect the rights of freedom of worship of every member and all Nigerians.

 

“When we are faced with this kind of crucial game, we call on everyone to pray through their various believes because we foresee that Benin Republic are most likely coming to fall back on ‘black magic’ to enable them perfect a back-to-back victory over our Super Eagles after beating us 2-1 in our last meeting in a World Cup qualifier”

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“We cannot underestimate the efficacy of the black magic” Ikpea further stressed, “but we believe that when we come together we can neutralize it’s efficacy.

 

“This is no time to sleep, we all have to rally round and do our best to support our Super Eagles because they cannot do it alone without the prayers and support of all Nigerians.

 

“While charging Nigerians to be positive with the team, we at the NFSC have done everything positive to overturn whatever plans they are coming with and we enjoin everyone to toe that path through prayers”.

 

Meanwhile, the Super Eagles camp is bubbling with training in Uyo, as team Coach Austin Eguavoen, has been working hard to perfect tactics with the boys and ensure the Super Eagles soar on Saturday.

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AFCON

Will Super Eagles regain their winning mentality?

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The Super Eagles have not won a qualifying match for any competition since their 6-0 defeat of Principe & Sao Tome on 10th September 2023 in Uyo. That was their last qualifying match for Cote d’Ivoire 2023 played in 2024.

Since then, they have played four World Cup qualifying matches without a win despite being the overwhelming favourites at those matches. 

A forensic analysis of their World Cup qualifying since that of Qatar 2022 will reveal they had played seven consecutive matches without a win starting from their 1-1 home draw with Cape Verde in Lagos which qualified them for the  play off. In the play off with Ghana, the Super Eagles drew the two matches.

 In the 2026  World Cup qualifiers, they have gone four matches, getting three draws and a loss. The prospect of their getting a straight qualification from the group is doubtful as they have a mountain to climb by winning the remaining six matches, three of which are away duels of which are most likely to be played in South Africa, the home ground of their main rivals.

 Zimbabwe and Lesotho play their home matches in South Africa and Nigeria also still have an away duel with Bafana Bafana.

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 The qualification series of AFCON 2025 presents the Super Eagles a new beginning. Starting from the semi-finals of the AFCON in Cote d’Ivoire, the team has won none of their four competitive matches in regulation time.  The players have a date with destiny in Uyo this Saturday to wipe off the sagging image they have had in recent time.

 A win will give the team the confidence expected in anticipation for future fixtures.

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