91-cap Super Eagles star plays down ‘revenge’ ahead of Nigeria’s AFCON 2025 quarter-final clash against Algeria

The Super Eagles of Nigeria are set to take on the Fennec Foxes of Algeria in the AFCON 2025 quarter-final at the Stade de Marrakech later today, Soccernet.ng reports.

Algeria captain Riyad Mahrez came to the rescue with a 95th-minute free-kick goal when both sides last met at the AFCON in 2019, but Moses Simon has revealed Nigeria are not out for revenge.

Mahrez's goal in Egypt propelled Algeria to the AFCON 2019 final, which they eventually won, defeating Senegal by a lone goal in the final.

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Nigeria, meanwhile, secured a bronze medal after defeating Tunisia in the third-place match, where Moses Simon came on for the final 15 minutes.

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No revenge for the Super Eagles – Moses Simon

The Paris FC winger, speaking in the pre-match conference as monitored by Soccernet.ng, revealed that while the memory of the 2019 encounter lingers, revenge isn't something that's of particular interest for the current crop of Nigerian players.

“Of course, we are aware. I was there also when they kicked us out of the semis. I like that. Of course, you know, he's a different player, different mindset,” the 91-cap Nigerian attacker said about Algeria's Riyad Mahrez.

“At the same time, it's different for Nigerian players as well, but I think we talk about it, of course, but this, this is how we see it.

“Now, we have a lot of young players. We are motivated. We want to win. We are not going to try to win; we want to win.

“We don't have anything about revenge in our mindset. We just want to play. We are a team that works every day to progress and to win due to our mentality.

North African teams are not a threat to Nigeria

Although the competition is being played in Morocco, the former Levante winger doesn't believe it gives other North African teams an advantage over Eric Chelle's side.

“I cannot tell you the North African teams are teams that are giving us trouble because we, too, are a team that gives them trouble because we just kick them out.

“I think not the last game we beat the Tunisian team. Of course, the Tunisian team is one of the best in Africa. So it is not the time to talk about teams or not teams, every team is really good in this competition.

“You can see every African team now; they are good, and they have progressed a lot. So there are no small teams, and there are no big teams anymore,” Moses Simon concluded.

Although a leader in the Super Eagles dressing room, the 30-year-old has come off the bench in three of Nigeria's four games in Morocco.