Super Eagles coach, Jose Peseiro is demanding total concentration from his team as they prepare to tackle the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon Saturday in the African Cup of Nations round of 16 clash.
The Super Eagles will have Wednesday and Thursday training sessions behind closed doors as they perfect strategies to cage the Lions who have had a poor run of form in the tournament so far, but could wake up from their slumber because of the motivation of beating Nigeria.
Cameroon had always been a banana peel for the Super Eagles in the AFCON contest. On three different occasions the Indomitable Lions have denied Nigeria the trohpy in painful losses. One of such was a 3-1 win by Cameroon at the Stade Félix Houphouët-Boigny, Abidjan venue of Saturday night’s clash.
In 1988, Nigeria felt cheated when Mauritanian referee Idrissa Sarr disallowed a goal by Henry Nwosu in the first half at the Stade Mohamed V in Casablanca. Emmanuel Kunde scored from the spot in the second period to win it for the Lions.
In 2000, as co-hosts, Nigeria fell behind 0-2 in a memorable final with goals from Samuel Eto’o and Patrick Mboma, before Raphael Chukwu Ndukwe and Jay-Jay Okocha restored parity. The Lions went ahead to win 4-3 after a penalty shootout at the National Stadium, Lagos.
However, Nigerians will remember with a song in their heart the Super Eagles’ triumph over the Lions in the quarter-finals in Tunisia in 2004, and in the Round of 16 in Egypt in 2019, as well as the 4-0 win over the neighbours in a FIFA World Cup qualifying match in Uyo in 2017 that paved the way for Nigeria’s qualification for Russia 2018.
In Alexandria in 2019, also in the Round of 16, eventual tournament top scorer Odion Ighalo scored two of the goals in a 3-2 win, with midfielder Alex Iwobi netting the winner from a fabulous assist by Ighalo.
