Saturday January 27, 2024
- Stade Félix Houphouët-Boigny 11pm
African power houses Nigeria and Cameroon lock horns in the battle for a quarter final slot in the fixture reminiscent of classic meetings from the 80s, 90s and early 2000s.
Nigeria impressive in the group stages but that can’t be said of Cameroon who scrapped through on the final group match.
Nigeria started the campaign with a draw against Guinea, they beat hosts Ivory Coasts 1-0 and also Guinea Bissau by the same result to secure their ticket in this round.
Cameroon had a slightly more difficult journey after playing out to a 1-1 draw to Guinea, losing 3-1 to Senegal and eventually fought back for a 3-2 win over The Gambia.
Cameroon will hope the ghosts of 1984 are alive after they beat Nigeria 3-1 in Abidjan at this very stadium to lift their first title.
In fact, three of five titles won by Cameroon have come at the expense of beating the Super Eagles as it was the case in 1988 and 2000.
However, the Super Eagles, three-time winners will hope their dominance in recent meetings comes to the foe on Saturday as the Super Eagles claimed victory during the quarter-finals in the 2004 edition played in Tunisia as well as the a round of 16 win during the 2019 showpiece in Alexandria, Egypt.
A total of eight TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations trophies is spread amongst the two nations: Five for the Indomitable Lions (1984, 1988, 2000, 2002 and 2017) and three for the Super Eagles (1980, 1994 and 2013)
Coaches’ comments ahead of the clash
José Peseiro – Nigeria coach
“It’s a difficult match. We are in the round of 16 and playing against a great team. We don’t want to concede, we want to score a goal and maintain our lead. We expect that history will not repeat itself at the Stade Félix Houphouët-Boigny. Even if the statistics are not for us, we are going to play. It is a mission that has been entrusted to us and we are going to try to carry it out. We want to win; we want to stay in this tournament until the end.”
Moses Simon – Nigeria striker
“We feel good. We take the matches one after the other and we hope to do like in the previous matches. In 2019 we played against Cameroon, we know they are strong, and I think today they are better than in 2019 and we also improved as well. We know their weak points and so we will take the match as it comes”.
Rigobert Song, Cameroon coach
“We know what we need to do and where we need to go. We have prepared and remain focused. We started slowly, moving up gradually. At this stage of the competition, I think there are no more things to look for. In three matches, I no longer have the right to calculate, I have to correct what didn’t work. I will do everything necessary to obtain a positive result”.
Faris Pemi Moumbagna, Cameroon striker
“We prepared well, the atmosphere is good in the group. We are going to stay in the same state of mind and continue to give the best of us. We are going to approach this match with 200% effort. We are going to give everything on the pitch like we did against Gambia, we are not going to give up”.