AFCON Round Of 16: Super Eagles Seek To Fly Past Indomitable Lions

The Super Eagles of Nigeria will plan to destroy the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon in tonight's Round of 16 in the ongoing African Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Cote d'Ivoire.

Both countries are familiar foes and have met more than five times at different stages of the AFCON.

The Indomitable Lions however, have won when it mattered most as they defeated the Super Eagles in the AFCON finals of 1984, 1988 and 2000 to lift the trophy for their first three wins, before going on to win their fourth and fifth AFCON titles respectively in 2002 against Senegal and 2017 against Egypt.

On the part of Nigeria, it won bronze medal in AFCON 1992 after defeating Cameroon in a third place match courtesy of a late Rashidi Yekini's solo run goal. Austin Okocha captained the Super Eagles to a 2-1 quarter final win over Cameroon at the 2004 AFCON edition, while Nigeria also defeated their arch rivals at the 2019 edition by three goals to two.

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The Super Eagles of Nigeria have qualified for the Cote d'Ivoire African Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2023 Round of 16 and will slug it out with perennial rivals, Cameroon, following a slim 1-0 win over Guinea Bissau in the last match of their Group.

The Nigerian side, which finished second in Group A behind Group leaders, Equatorial Guinea and above host nation, Cote d'Ivoire will battle long-time foe, Cameroon in the Round of 16 on Saturday, January 27.

A bizarre own goal by a Guinea Bissau defender in the 36th minute from a Moses Simon cross gave the Super Eagles a much-needed win. The Nigerian team had automatically secured qualification for the Round of 16, after getting four points from their two previous Group matches. The Super Eagles played a 1-1 draw in their first match against Equatorial Guinea and pipped Ivory Coast 1-0 in their second Group match.

Nigeria however needed the win over Guinea Bissau to guarantee them against playing tournament favourites and AFCON defending champions, Senegal in the Round of 16.

Going into the AFCON 2023 knockout stages, the 1980, 1994, and 2013 AFCON champions need to play as a team in order to surmount the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon. The Super Eagles could put smiles on the faces of hundreds of millions football-loving Nigerians when both countries square up by 9 pm on Saturday, January 27th.

The Nigeria versus Cameroon Round of 16 games will be played at Stade Felix Houphouet Boigny.

It should be recalled that the recent AFCON match between the Super Eagles and Indomitable Lions happened at the 2019 AFCON hosted by Egypt. The match ended 3-2 with Nigeria winning following a brace from Odion Ighalo and a goal from Alex Iwobi.

What are your predictions for tonight's match between Nigeria and Cameroon? Will the Super Eagles fly past the Indomitable Lions at the end of regulation time or after penalty shootout?

Oladele Hakeem Olaniyan who lives in Nigeria wrote this piece for Naijaloveinfo.

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