As Nzelang Nacional plots to clip Super Eagles’ wings

Nigeria and Equatorial Guinea officially kick off their TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations Cote d’Ivoire 2023 campaign on Sunday afternoon in an exciting Group A encounter where the Nzelang Nacional (National Thunder) plots to clip the Super Eagles’ wings.

The meeting between the two sides promises to be an action-packed affair with relatively high stakes in a tough Group A consisting of hosts Cote d’Ivoire and Guinea-Bissau.

The Super Eagles were flawless in their group stages in the previous edition to be stunned by Tunisia in the knockout stages, who had qualified as the third-best team from the group stages.

Star-studded Nigeria has learned from their mistakes, and with the likes of CAF Player of the Year, Victor Osimhen, Samuel Chukueze, Ademola Lookman, and Kelechi Iheanacho on the side, Super Eagles will be looking at going all the way in their quest of winning a fourth African title.

Equatorial Guinea, which is also known by the moniker Los Elefantes (The Elephants), on the other hand, certainly are no pushovers.

They reached the quarter-finals during the last edition held in Cameroon, which included a shock 1-0 defeat over Algeria and Mali, who they knocked out in the round of 16 to advance to the quarter-finals.

The small Central African country that will be playing its fourth TotalEnergies CAF AFCON also made it to the quarter-finals in the 2012 edition.

Kick off at the Alassane Ouattara Olympic Stadium is at 14h00 GMT.