Super Eagles Train First Time in Marrakech, Osimhen, Lookman, Akor Vow Algeria Will Fall 

Duro Ikhazuagbe 

After the intervention of the Federal Government on another possible strike action by Super Eagles players over unpaid bonuses ahead of AFCON 2025 quarterfinal fixture against Algeria’s Desert Foxes on Saturday, the glory-seeking three -time African champions had their first training in Marrakech yesterday.

The team flew from Fes where Eagles  won all their previous four matches to Marrakech, praying to also have same luck here.

According to the Media Officer of the Super Eagles, Promise Efoghe, all the 

players featured in the training session supervised by coach Eric Chelle, who celebrated his first year in charge of the team yesterday.

Nigeria’s twin-terrors Victor Osimhen and Ademola Lookman, and new face Akor Adams, who is highly motivated by his first AFCON goal (against Mozambique in the Round of 16) and the steady recuperation of his mother, look too hot to handle for the 1990 and 2019 champions.

Osimhen and Lookman were the driving force behind Nigeria’s runner-up accomplishment in Cote d’Ivoire two years ago, and have proved equally impactful here with each netting three goals, while Lookman has five assists and Osimhen has one.

However, the Algerians  have their own pack of match-winners, who have proven over the years to be highly dependable and can eke out a result when it is least expected.

Baghdad Bounedjah scored the only goal of the 2019 Final against Senegal in Cairo, which handed Algeria their second AFCON trophy, and has remained one of the most potent strikers in the history of the Foxes.

Captain Riyad Mahrez has turned out to be as brutally efficient as Rabah Madjer (who carried the nation on his shoulders as the North African country hosted and won the AFCON trophy in 1990), Lakhdar Belloumi and the nifty Abdelhafid Tasfaout.

Ismael Bennacer is another tricky customer, though he operates from the midfield, and defender Ramy Bensebaini scored the only goal when the Fennecs pipped Nigeria in a friendly in Austria in October 2020.

Adil Boulbina netted the scorcher that ended the hopes of Leopards of DR Congo, and the Super Eagles must also beware of midfielders Ibrahim Maza and Hicham Boudaoui, as well as striker Anis Hadj-Moussa.

Both countries, with five African titles between them, will throw everything into the encounter on Saturday as they seek a place in the last-4 of perhaps the biggest and most glamorous AFCON tournament in the competition’s 69-year history.

Three-time champions Nigeria netted 12 times in their first four matches (three group phase games and the Round of 16), while the Fennecs (otherwise known as Desert Warriors) have struck eight times, including knocking three each past Sudan and Equatorial Guinea in Group E. They eliminated the Democratic Republic of Congo with an added-time goal while the Super Eagles made short work of the Mambas of Mozambique.