Nigeria’s Super Eagles and the Desert Warriors of Algeria are set for a terrific showdown in the 45,000-capacity Grand Stade de Marrakech on Saturday, in the third quarter-final match of the ongoing 35th Africa Cup of Nations finals.
Both countries, with five African titles between them, will throw everything into the encounter as they seek a place in the last-4 of perhaps the biggest and most glamorous AFCON tournament in the competition’s 69-year history.
Both teams have been landlords elsewhere. The Eagles flew from Fès – where they had played all their group phase and Round of 16 matches – to Marrakech on Thursday afternoon, while the Fennecs also had to travel from Rabat (where they also played all their previous four games).
Three-time champions Nigeria netted 12 times in their first four matches (three group phase games and the Round of 16), while the Fennecs (otherwise known as Desert Warriors) have struck eight times, including knocking three each past Sudan and Equatorial Guinea in Group E. They eliminated the Democratic Republic of Congo with an added-time goal while the Super Eagles made short work of the Mambas of Mozambique.
Nigeria’s twin-terrors Victor Osimhen and Ademola Lookman, and new face Akor Adams, who is highly motivated by his first AFCON goal (against Mozambique in the Round of 16) and the steady recuperation of his mother, look too hot to handle for the 1990 and 2019 champions.
Osimhen and Lookman were the driving force behind Nigeria’s runner-up accomplishment in Cote d’Ivoire two years ago, and have proved equally impactful here with each netting three goals, while Lookman has five assists and Osimhen has one.
However, the truth is that the Fennecs have their own pack of match-winners, who have proven over the years to be highly dependable and can eke out a result when it is least expected.
Baghdad Bounedjah scored the only goal of the 2019 Final against Senegal in Cairo, which handed Algeria their second AFCON trophy, and has remained one of the most potent strikers in the history of the Fennecs.
Captain Riyad Mahrez has turned out to be as brutally efficient as Rabah Madjer (who carried the nation on his shoulders as the North African country hosted and won the AFCON trophy in 1990), Lakhdar Belloumi and the nifty Abdelhafid Tasfaout.
Ismael Bennacer is another tricky customer, though he operates from the midfield, and defender Ramy Bensebaini scored the only goal when the Fennecs pipped Nigeria in a friendly in Austria in October 2020.
Adil Boulbina netted the scorcher that ended the hopes of Leopards of DR Congo, and the Super Eagles must also beware of midfielders Ibrahim Maza and Hicham Boudaoui, as well as striker Anis Hadj-Moussa.
Nonetheless, Nigeria has looked very capable in this championship, with the group playing with purpose, grit, pride and passion, and captain Wilfred Ndidi and Alex Iwobi have delivered energetically and with panache.
Osimhen’s brace against Mozambique took him within three goals of Nigeria’s all-time record of 37 goals, and Lookman now has six AFCON goals, with his brace against Cameroon and strike against Angola in the knockout rounds of the last competition in Cote d’Ivoire. Both forwards will be eager to add to their tally here.
Paul Onuachu is galvanized by his strike against Uganda in the group phase turning out to be the 150th AFCON goal for Nigeria, and could play some part in Saturday’s duel.
The winner of the encounter will take on the winner of the second semi-final, between Cameroon’s Indomitable Lions and Morocco’s Atlas Lions, taking place on Friday in Rabat.
Incidentally, when Morocco hosted the AFCON in 1988 (the only previous championship the North African Kingdom staged), Cameroon clashed with Morocco in the first semi-final while Nigeria and Algeria clashed in the second semi-final. The quartet are now repeating history at the quarter-final stage.
Thirty-eight years ago, Nigeria edged Algeria in a marathon penalty shootout after regulation and extra time ended 1-1, while Cameroon edged hosts Morocco to set up a Nigeria-Cameroon Final. The Indomitable Lions won that controversial Final 1-0.
