Super Eagles hope of qualifying for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations in Equatorial Guinea is dependent on the outcome of its last group A qualifier against Bafana Bafana of South Africa in Uyo today
Nigeria, second in the group with seven points, needs an outright victory for it to win the group’s second automatic qualification ticket. South Africa qualified last Saturday with 11 points after its 2-1 defeat of Sudan in Durban thereby opening a four-point lead over second and third placed Nigeria and Congo respectively.
Nigeria got its tottering campaign back on track last Saturday in Pointe Noire, beating Congo 2-0. The victory cancelled the head-to-head advantage that Congo had over Nigeria as a result of its first leg 3-2 defeat of Nigeria in Calabar.
Super Eagles’ Interim Coach, Stephen Keshi, described Eagles 2-0 win in Pointe Noire as a hard one saying, “It was not an easy game against a very determined Congo side, but luck was on our side. We took a big step forward.
“Now we must do everything to get the three points in our last match and qualify for the Nations Cup.”
The most important thing today is not playing well, but getting the job done as the team did against Congo in Pointe Noire. The good thing is that, South Africa has nothing to play for, safe pride and its desire to end its bad run against the Eagles. Out of 10 meetings, Eagles has won seven, drew two and lost one.
To get itself prepared adequately for today’s encounter, Eagles returned to the country immediately after the victory in Congo and moved straight to Uyo venue of the match.
But the team will not have the services of two players, midfielder Hope Akpan (shoulder injury) and defender Godfrey Oboabona, who is ruled out due to card problem.
There is injury fear to defensive midfielder, Ogenyi Onazi, as he missed the team’s training session on Tuesday morning, but could pass a late fitness test for the match.
The good news is that Kenneth Omeruoh is back and ready to play. He will certainly replace Oboabona at the heart of the Eagles defence with Soni Aluko likely to start today.
Ike Uche, who scored Eagles first goal in Pointe Noire, said the mood in the camp is that today’s match is like cup final, which really it is.
“The mood is great, we know the expectations of our fans and we must give everything on the pitch to get the win,” said Uche, adding, “We’ve been saying Wednesday is like a Cup final against South Africa and all the players know what is at stake.
“After that important win against Congo we now have our fate in our own hands.”
Keshi agreed that it will be a difficult task to do without two regulars in his team but he also hope the remaining players would hold their own against any squad in the world. “It would have been better to play all my regulars in this match but since it has turned out like this I expect the others to show what they can do in the face of challenges facing the team and I trust they will do very well against Bafana Bafana.”
Azubuike Egweikwe did well last Saturday pairing Oboabona, so barring any unforeseen circumstances he should start with Efe Ambrose and Juwon Oshaniwa starting also.
Mikel Obi, Ogenyi Onazi and Soni Aluko are expected to star in the midfield. Expectedly, Ike Uche will lead the attack with Emmanuel Emenike, Ahmed Musa assisting.
Third-placed Congo is hoping South Africa will do it a big favour by not losing in Nigeria and they win in Sudan.
Congo, which last featured at the Nations Cup 14 years ago, could also qualify as third-best losers if it beats Sudan away and Guinea fails to beat Uganda at home.
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