THE Super Eagles enter the fray as the Africa Cup of Nations continues in Abidjan in five minutes.
Last night saw Ivory Coast shake off any pre-tournament nerves to run out deserved 2-0 winners over Guinea-Bissau thanks to goals in each half from Seko Fofana and Jean-Philippe Krasso, with Nigeria hoping to follow suit this afternoon ahead of their huge Group A showdown with the hosts on Thursday evening.
Nigeria’s bid for a fourth AFCON title overall and a first since South Africa in 2013 is not helped by a wave of injuries that will see them without the likes of Victor Boniface, Wilfred Ndidi, Taiwo Awoniyi and Umar Sadiq for the entire tournament, but Portuguese head coach Jose Peseiro still boasts one of the strongest squads on the continent led by the likes of Napoli striker Victor Osimhen and AC Milan’s Samuel Chukwueze, who is surprisingly only named on the bench.
While they will be expected to get off to a winning start today, their opponents, led by former Middlesbrough and Birmingham man Emilio Nsue, could pose a tough test having finished fourth at the 2015 competition and also reached the quarter-finals on two other occasions in the last 11 years.
The teams are out and the national anthems are underway at the Olympic Stadium of Ebimpe!
A sparse crowd inside the ground for this one it must be said, but Nigeria are well represented as usual.
A few surprises in that Nigeria team then, not least AC Milan attacker Samuel Chukwueze starting on the bench alongside Fulham defender Calvin Bassey.
It seems that Super Eagles boss Jose Peseiro has preferred former Watford star William Troost-Ekong alongside West Brom’s Semi Ajayi at the back, with Moses Simon of Nantes getting the nod over Chukwueze in support of Victor Osimhen.
Royal Antwerp’s Alhassan Yusuf – only drafted into the squad last week as a late replacement for the injured Wilfred Ndidi – makes his first Nigeria start in midfield, while it’s a first competitive start in goal for Stanley Nwabali – who plays his club football in Nigeria with Chippa United.
Nwabali is preferred to the Cyprus-based Francis Uzoho between the posts.
