The die is cast, the stage is set and the 24 gladiators are ready to battle for glory as the 33rd edition of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) kicks-off in Cameroon.
The competition, which was postponed twice because of weather conditions and the outbreak of the Corona virus, will now hold between January 9 and February 6, 2022.
In group A, the host, Cameroon will face Burkina Faso, Ethiopia and Cape Verde, while Teranga Lions of Senegal, Warriors of Zimbabwe, Syli Stars of Guinea and the Flames of Malawi will slug it out in group B.
In group C, Morocco, Ghana, debutants Comoros Island and Gabon will fight to finish, while the Super Eagles of Nigeria will play in group D against seven time champions Egypt, Sudan and Guinea-Bissau.
Defending champions, Algeria will tread tackles with Sierra Leone, Equatorial Guinea and Ivory Coast in group E as Tunisia will lurk horns with Mali, Mauritania, and debutants Gambia in group F.
The Super Eagles have made 18 appearances in the AFCON. They did not participate in the first two editions in 1957 and 1959 because Nigeria was not yet affiliated to CAF. They withdrew from participating in the 1962, 1970 and 1996 editions. They failed to qualify in 1968, 1972, 1974, 1986, 2012, 2015 and 2017.
They did not participate in Burkina Faso 98 because they were banned for refusing to defend their title in South Africa 96.
Nigeria have won the AFCON three times, first on home soil in 1980. Segun Odegbami’s brace and Mudashiru Lawal’s icing on the cake gave the Green Eagles as the Super Eagles were then called a 3-0 victory over Algeria.
In 1994 the Super Eagles captained by Stephen Keshi conquered Africa again in Tunisia. Emmanuel Amunike scored twice as Nigeria defeated the Copper Bullets of Zambia 2-1 in the final.
Stephen Keshi became the second man to win the AFCON both as a player and a coach, after Egypt’s Mahmoud El-Gohary, when he led the Super Eagles to win her third title in South Africa with Sunday Mba scoring the lone goal with which Nigeria defeated the hard-fighting Stallions of Burkina Faso.
Nigeria have finished second four times in 1984, 1988, 1990 and 2000.
They have won bronze in eight occasions.
The build up to this AFCON has seen the sacking of Gernot Rohr and the appointment of ex-international Austine Eguavoen to lead the team to Cameroon with barely a month to kick off. Recall that Eguavoen was in charge of the Super Eagles when they won Bronze in Egypt 2006.
Nigeria will confront Egypt in their opening match on January 11th before they tread tackles with Sudan four days later and conclude their group matches against Guinea-Bissau on January 19th.
When the economy is not friendly, as it is now, millions of Nigerians turn to their darling Super Eagles for joy.
Therefore, Austin Eguavoen and his consortium of coaches must field players based on their current form not on their names or where they play their club football.
Nigerians want to see a team that is young as well as experienced, a team that has a water-tight defense, mobile and creative mid-field and a prolific attack.
The players must not underrate any team. They should remember it is never over until the last blast of the whistle. They should therefore fight to the end.
