- The Super Eagles take on South Africa on Wednesday, and it promises to be a thrilling encounter
The Super Eagles of Nigeria will trade tackles with South Africa's Bafana Bafana on Wednesday in the semi-final of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast, Soccernet.ng reports.
Going by recent history, the tie has always been a tough one for both countries, albeit Nigeria has always boasted of more star names than South Africa.
The tension among fans of both countries has been heating up, especially on social media, since they won their quarter-final games. However, a new development took place on Sunday that would heighten the tension between both fans.
On Sunday, at the Grammys, South African sensation Tyla beat two of Nigeria's biggest stars, Burna Boy and Davido, to the Best African Music Performance Award.
This sparked a serious buzz on social media as Nigerians and South Africans went at each other. To Nigerians, one of their stars deserved it, but to South Africans, Tyla was the deserved winner.
Disgruntled ‘fans’ of Davido take laws in the their hands by reporting the IG page of the Grammy following the hat-trick loss of their fave
pic.twitter.com/F38Hz968Va— Instablog9ja (@instablog9ja) February 5, 2024
One fan wrote: Lmao… beat playing for straight 8 minutes without a single word won best global performance over Burna Boy’s “Alone” and Davido “Feels” 😭
How does Grammy really work?
Meanwhile, another wrote: Not going to lie, the Grammy did a great job last night from playing Fela Kuti water instead of Tyla's own to declining our GOAT’s from winning it ,it shows kudos to Us for the hard work & Respect to our Legends. A rough Letter to us Saying please keep dis energy & More.
South Africa has taken our Grammy. We definitely need to beat them at AFCON.
— Joey Akan (@JoeyAkan) February 4, 2024
Also, top journalist, Joey Akan wrote on his Tiwtter (X) page: “South Africa has taken our Grammy. We definitely need to beat them at AFCON.”
Some fans also went on to link the Grammy Awards situation with the upcoming semi-final on Wednesday. But one thing is clear- the game is building up to be something similar to the Jollof derby between Ghana and Nigeria.
In fact, following the Grammy Awards situation, the game between Nigeria and South Africa could be nicknamed Afrobeats vs Amapiano, or better still, the Ojapiano vs Amapiano derby. Either way, any team that fails to perform to their optimal level will face the music- in this case- the third-place match.
Despite dominating the fixture in the 90s and early 2000s, some Nigerians will never forget how the Bafana Bafana stopped the Super Eagles from qualifying for the 2015 AFCON after a disappointing 2-2 draw at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium in Akwa Ibom.
Going into the fixture, the players would be fighting for more than just a ticket to the final. They would also be fighting for pride, bragging rights, and their legacies. And, of course, the fans will be looking to lap up all of the excitement and throw banter after the game.
