Three-time winners Nigeria and seven-time champions Egypt will be at each other’s jugular at the Cairo Stadium on Tuesday evening, in a friendly match meant to prepare both teams for their campaigns at the 35th Africa Cup of Nations finals kicking off in Morocco on Sunday.
Both teams will have the opportunity to test a clutch of newbies, with Nigeria manager Eric Sékou Chelle able to field the likes of goalkeeper Amas Obasogie, defender Ryan Alebiosu, midfielders Usman Muhammed, Tochukwu Nnadi and Ebenezer Akinsanmiro, and forwards Paul Onuachu and Salim Fago Lawal, if he so desires.
Pharaohs’ Coach Hossam Hassan, himself an AFCON legend, scored seven goals as Egypt won the 1998 edition of the championship in Burkina Faso, finishing as joint top scorer with South Africa’s Benni McCarthy, whose team ended up with the silver medals.
Hassan will most probably weave his gameplan for the friendly match and the AFCON tournament itself around Liverpool ace Mohamed Salah, who, despite a hefty trophy shelf, is looking for his first AFCON title. There will also be Manchester City of England’s Omar Marmoush, Al Ahly’s Mohamed El-Shenawy, Mohamed Hany, Yasser Ibrahim, Emam Ashour and Mahmoud Trezeguet.
There are also CAF Champions League holders Pyramids’ Mohamed Hamdy and Mostafa Fathi, and UAE-based Ibrahim Adel, as well as Mostafa Mohamed of FC Nantes in France.
Chelle is most likely to set his store by goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali, defenders Bright Osayi-Samuel, Semi Ajayi Calvin Bassey and Zaidu Sanusi, midfielders Wilfred Ndidi, Frank Onyeka and Alex Iwobi, and forwards Samuel Chukwueze, Victor Osimhen and Ademola Lookman.
The match will kick off at 8pm Egypt time (7pm Nigeria time). As of Monday afternoon, 17 of the 28 players in Nigeria’s final list were in Cairo, with more players expected to arrive before Monday evening’s training session.
The Super Eagles will depart Cairo for the Moroccan city of Fés aboard a chartered flight on Thursday.
Nigeria’s campaign for a fourth continental crown (following triumphs in 1980, 1994 and 2013), is already themed NAIJA 4 THE WIN, and rolls off the ground on Tuesday, 23rd December with a clash against Tanzania’s Taifa Stars, in a repeat of the opening match of the 1980 finals that Nigeria hosted and won.
The Eagles will then clash with 2004 hosts and winners Tunisia on Saturday, 27th December, before their final Group C encounter against Uganda’s Cranes on Tuesday, 30th December. All of Nigeria’s group phase matches hold at the Complexe Sportif de Fés.
The Pharaohs, who are the only country to have achieved three consecutive triumphs (2006-2010), have to negotiate things with 1996 hosts and winners South Africa, as well as Angola and Zimbabwe in Group B. Their matches will take place at the Stade d’Agadir in the city of Agadir.
