NELSPRUIT — Two bruised egos in the form of Nigeria’s Super Eagles and the defending champions Zambia will clash today at the Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit, and the likelihood is that whoever loses the match may be on the way out of the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations.
Report by Supersport
Kickoff is 5pm.
Nigeria had to share the spoils with Burkina Faso as they surrendered their 1-0 lead very deep into added time in the second half, while the Zambians could not get one over a plucky 10-man Ethiopian team.
Stephen Keshi will be buoyed by the fact that his team almost always had the game against Burkina Faso under control until Ambrose Efe’s sending off, while Hervé Renard will have told his boys that they will have to up the ante to get a positive result against Nigeria.
The problem for Zambia is that they do not score many goals and for Nigeria, chances created have to be taken.
Kenneth Omeruo will start at right-back for the Eagles, while Renard may decide to use two strikers up front with Collins Mbesuma and Emmanuel Mayuka the likely candidates.
The Super Eagles were the last team to beat the Chipolopolo in the Nations Cup, back in the 2010 edition, when Nigeria won on penalties in the quarter-finals.
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The Eagles also beat the Zambians in a friendly in 2011 as the Chipolopolo were preparing for the 2012 Nations Cup, which they eventually won.
So the die is cast and the team which can score two goals in this encounter will likely carry the day.
The match is expected to be a tough slug as both sides will be gunning for the three points at stake if they are to keep their hopes of advancing to next stage of the competition alive after both faltered in their group openers.
Group C is wide open after Ethiopia forced defending champions Zambia to a 1-1 draw on Monday and Nigeria were also held by the same scoreline by Burkina Faso.
Nigeria and Zambia have met 16 times at full international level with five victories apiece, while there have been six drawn matches.
The first meeting of the two sides was on October 28 1973, in a 1974 Nations Cup qualifier which Zambia easily won 5-1.
However, history favours Nigeria as far as the Nations Cup is concerned as they have beaten the Chipolopolo four times out of five meetings at this stage of the tournament.
Both sides have been talking tough ahead of the game as they know the importance of the match.
Eagles defender Godfrey Oboabona said they have learnt from their mistakes against Burkina Faso and that they are now gunning for victory against Zambia.
“We are all disappointed that we couldn’t beat Burkina Faso in our opening match due to some errors. But that is behind us as we have learnt lessons and we are ready to beat Zambia. We only have to be decisive,” Oboabona declared.
Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel said the game is a do-or-die affair as Nigeria’s qualification to next round is tied to a victory over Zambia today at the Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit.
“It is a do-or-die game. We are very much aware of the situation we have found ourselves. We have to win the game because a win could well assure us of moving to the next stage,” said Mikel.
“It’s a must-win game for us. We know it is going to be tough, but we are ready for the battle and going for victory.”
