Tonight, in far away Alexandria,
Egypt, two African giants, the Super Eagles and Pharaohs of Egypt will clash at
the Borg El Arab stadium as they aim to qualify for the 2017 AFCON finals in
Gabon.
Moreover, Coach Samson Siasia and his officials were less than
pleased with how Egypt equalised, as they felt the Egyptians should have
knocked the ball out of play after a Nigerian player went to the ground with an
apparent injury.
The unpleasantness should trigger
plenty of emotions in Egypt, and an already intense – and crucial – match in
Alexandria will definitely be affected by such a charged atmosphere. A win for
Egypt would all but seal their qualification to the tournament finals in Gabon
next year, and would signal the end to Eagles’ hopes of progression; Chad’s
withdrawal from Group G means that the second-placed team will not be
qualifying under any circumstances whatsoever.
Should Nigeria pull off a win,
however, they will be the favourites to finish at the top of the standings, and
will go into the final matchday with a one point lead over Egypt, with Tanzania
visiting the former team at home in September.
The Pharaohs are not leaving
anything to chance with the interior ministry now allowing for 40,000 fans to
watch this rematch after the crowd bans since the tragic incident in 2012 when
72 fans died at the Port Said Stadium. They are also expected to be a lot more
adventurous than they were on Friday, when they generally stayed put in their
own half of the pitch only really opening up to chase the game after the Oghenekaro
Etebo opener on the hour.
The Nigeria defence will be fully
stretched today as Mohamed Salah, Mahamoud Trezeguet and Ahmed Hassan ‘Kouka’
lead the home team’s attack again. Coach Samson Siasia may well recall
experienced Monaco defender, Elderson Echiéjilé to man mark Roma attacking
pearl, Mohammed Salah as Stanley Amuzie struggled against the mercurial Salah
in the first encounter.
The Eagles will be without
first-choice goalkeeper Carl Ikeme, who has missed training due to a stomach
problem, and it is expected that South Africa-based Daniel Akpeyi will start in
goal. Nigeria will be boosted with the return from a three-match ban of Lazio
midfielder Ogenyi Onazi for Etebo to play a more attacking role in midfield.
Egypt held Nigeria to a 1 – 1 draw.
Samson Siasia’s teams love to attack and are always capable of scoring goals,
but the coach would also have to take a second look at his strike force –
should Victor Moses start or should another striker lead the attack other than
Watford star Odion Ighalo, who was largely ineffective in Kaduna.
“We will take the game to Egypt in
front of their fans,” declared Celtic defender Efe Ambrose.
“We need all three points in Egypt.
It’s a tough task, but we’re capable,” added Akpeyi.
Source: Vanguard News
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