Nigeria will be playing in the semi-finals of the TotalEnergies CAF AFCON for the 16th time, joining the Pharaohs of Egypt at the top of the list of countires with the most appearances in the last four of the competition.
The Super Eagles secured their ticket to the semi-finals of the AFCON Côte d’Ivoire 2023 after a 1-0 win over Angola through Ademola Lookman’s strike.
For the 16th time in 20 appearances, Super Eagles will equal the record set by Egypt’s Pharaohs, who have also reached the last four 16 times in 26 appearances.
Behind these record-holders, Ghana comes third with 14 semi-finals played in 24 appearances.
Cameroon and Côte d’Ivoire have each reached the semi-finals of Africa football’s showpiece event 10 times.
Nigeria, however, have only lifted the trophy three times, with Egypt winning it seven times as the record holders, followed by Cameroon who have won it five times, and Ghana with four trophies.
On Wednesday, 7th February 2024, José Peseiro and his men will face South Africa to play in the semi-finals with hopes of qualifying for their 8th final of the competition, one less than Ghana, two less than Egypt, and one more than Cameroon.
Meanwhile, tomorrow’s game will be the 15th clash between both countries at full international level. Nigeria have won seven of the previous 14 matches, with five of those matches drawn and two won by South Africa.
Apart from having to deal with the incredible energy, effervescence and pace of Africa Player of the Year Victor Osimhen, another major problem that the Bafana Bafana will be up against early, in-game and at the latter stages is the intractability of wing-terrors Ademola Lookman and Moses Simon.
Lookman, with three goals in the tournament so far (all coming in the knockout rounds), plus assisting Osimhen to score the equaliser against Equatorial Guinea, and Simon (with two assists) can be fleeting and entirely unpredictable for any defence, with both switching wings at will.
A stingy rearguard, marshalled by on-field captain William Troost-Ekong has been able to provide all the answers to a number of tricky questions by the opposition in their last four matches, and looks as solid as the Berlin Wall at the height of its glory.
Goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali, who plays his club football in South Africa, and who was thrown into the forefront as number one at this competition despite only one previous cap, said he would have a sweet day stopping all efforts by the Bafana Bafana and then seeing them shunted to the third-place match.
“I know them and they know me. It will be an interesting evening in Bouake.”
Calvin Bassey, Semi Ajayi, Zaidu Sanusi and Olaoluwa Aina are the other pegs in that rearguard, and the attack-minded Aina offers even more problems for the 1996 champions.
As far as the Africa Cup of Nations go, the Super Eagles are aiming for a fourth star on its crest, while the Bafana (Boys) are only aiming for a second triumph, following their win on home soil 28 years ago. Even that win has always been downplayed by Nigerians as it happened in the absence of Cup holders Nigeria, who were stopped from travelling to the Rainbow Nation by military strongman Sani Abacha following a spat with President Nelson Mandela over the execution of environmental rights activist Ken Saro Wiwa and some others in November 1995.
The first meeting between both countries was on 10th October 1992, when Richard Owubokiri opened the floodgates of goals in a 4-0 win for Nigeria at the National Stadium, Lagos. Rashidi Yekini scored a brace. It was a 1994 FIFA World Cup qualifying match. The return leg at the FBN Stadium in Johannesburg ended scoreless.
Nigeria spanked South Africa 2-0 in the semi-finals of the 2000 AFCON they co-hosted with Ghana, with Tijani Babangida scoring both goals, and four years later, an Eagles’ team wounded by Morocco in its first match descended heavily on the Bafana, beating the latter 4-0 in a group phase match in Monastir, Tunisia.
Four years ago, in the AFCON quarter-finals, the Eagles edged the Bafana 2-1 in Cairo, with the goals scored by Samuel Chukwueze and William Ekong. Both players will be in Bouake with Ekong to lead the squad on the field and Chukwueze likely to play some part in the proceedings.
