The Nigerians are the favourites to secure a third consecutive victory against the Wild Dogs, but they face a motivated opponent on Wednesday
Former Chelsea defender Ola Aina says the Super Eagles will spare no effort in getting the win and all three points on offer when Nigeria face Guinea-Bissau in their final group match of the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations at the Stade Omnisports Roumde Adjia later tonight.
The Super Eagles have qualified for the tournament’s knockout stage with a 100 per cent record, having handed convincing defeats to Egypt’s Pharaohs and Sudan’s Falcons in the opening rounds.
Guinea-Bissau, on the other hand, are on the verge of getting knocked out of the competition, having managed one point from a maximum of six.
The less-fancied West Africans claimed a draw against Sudan on matchday one before suffering a narrow defeat versus Egypt on Saturday.
However, a victory over Nigeria would brighten Guinea-Bissau’s chances of making it to the Round of 16, and the players have already vowed to give it their best shot to make their country proud.
But Torino fullback Aina insists the Eagles are as motivated as their opponents.
“We are not going to take our foot off the gas against Guinea Bissau,” Aina said, as per the New Telegraph.
“We need to send out a statement that we are here for business, and we can achieve that by winning all our games, it is for us to win, and we are going for that.”
The Wild Dogs have never won a game at the Afcon or scored a goal in Cameroon, but they are hoping to strike gold twice against a defence marshalled by former Chelsea signing Kenneth Omeruo.
With Omeruo in defence, Nigeria have only conceded a goal in the tournament. And the 2013 Afcon winner is clear about the target against their West African neighbours.
“We are going to play and maintain our winning streak,” said the Leganes centre-back.
“We are going to take Guinea Bissau seriously because that will increase our confidence going into the next round of the competition.”
Nigeria’s main striker Taiwo Awoniyi was a handful against Egypt on matchday one, and he scored one of the goals that swept away Sudan on Saturday.
The one-time Liverpool signing could again lead the attack against Guinea-Bissau, and he expects a rival as formidable as the previous two.
Awoniyi said, “We are here to fight and get the three points in all the games, and Guinea Bissau is not going to be an exception.
“There is no small team, people were expecting us to just roll over Sudan, but we all saw what happened, same as Egypt and Guinea Bissau; we have to be at our best in the game.”
The Super Eagles are expected to rest some regular stars to give playing time to players who have not featured much at the 2021 Afcon.
Still, the three-time African champions are expected to have enough quality to dispatch a team that has never won a match at the continental championship.
The Wild Dogs have played eight matches across three editions of the Afcon since making their debut in 2017. But they have only managed three draws, losing the remaining five.
This post was last modified on January 23, 2022 3:16 pm
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