Story by Lawrence Trusida, Sports editor
NIGERIA and Cameroon renew Africa Cup of Nations hostilities when they clash this Saturday at the Felix Houphouet Boigny Stadium in Cote d’Ivoire in a round of 16 match.
A fixture that has been the AFCON final three times previously in 1984, 1988 and 2000, Nigeria and Cameroon are set to face off at the Africa Cup of Nations for the first time since doing so at this stage in 2019.
In the group stages, Nigeria’s Super Eagles finished second behind Equatorial Guinea in Group A, while Rigobert Song’s men relied on a late comeback against The Gambia to progress behind a perfect Senegal in Group C.
Nigeria have struggled for goals at AFCON 2023, netting three times despite heading into the knockout stage as the competition’s top creators, fashioning more clear-cut chances than any other side at the tournament.
The two sides have a long-standing rivalry at the Cup of Nations, with Cameroon’s success in 2000 in Lagos at the turn of the millennium still hurtful to many Super Eagles supporters.
2017 champions Cameroon have, however, lost their stranglehold in this conflict, with the Indomitable Lions winless in the last three competitive meetings between the two nations, including a 3-2 loss at the 2019 finals in Egypt.
All indications point to a thriller in store, but before that Angola and Namibia clash in a low key match at 7pm.
