All eyes in Nigeria will be on the Moshood Abiola Stadium on Friday evening as the Super Eagles take on Guinea-Bissau in Group A of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.
The West African giants have recorded two wins from their first two qualifiers against Sierra Leone and Sao Tome and Principe, all under the watch of the new coach Jose Peseiro.
Friday’s encounter is very important as another victory could put the three-time African champions in the driving seat to make to the finals in the Ivory Coast next January.
???????????????????????? ????????????????
⚽️ Nigeria ???? Guinea Bissau
???? 24th March 2023
⏱ 5.00 pm
???? Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Abuja
???? #TotalEnergiesAFCONQ2023 #SoarSuperEagles| #NGAGNB pic.twitter.com/8aXqiyOAnO— ???????? Super Eagles (@NGSuperEagles) March 24, 2023
The biggest strength at Peseiro’s disposal is the attack. The department boasts of high profile names all dazzling for their respective clubs led by the mercurial Napoli forward Victor Osimhen. The 24-year-old already has five goals from the two qualifiers played so far, and with 25 goals registered with Napoli this term, he will be expected to deliver the goods in Abuja.
Should Osimhen draw a blank, Peseiro can rely on the likes of Terem Moffi, Ademola Lookman, Paul Onuachu and Kelechi Iheanacho to get the goals as the quartet boast of a combined 53 goals for their club sides. Such is the strength of Nigeria’s firepower which has not been seen in a long time.
While the Nigerian attack will be giving Guinea-Bissau a lot of nightmares, the Lusophone country will be buoyed by the other departments of the Nigerian team which are not at their strongest.
The midfield consists of just four names in Alex Iwobi, Wilfred Ndidi, Frank Onyeka and Joe Aribo. Bar Iwobi, none of the other names have been regulars for their teams in recent times especially Aribo and Ndidi and this leaves them lacking match sharpness which could tell should Guinea-Bissau, led by tenacious midfielder Alfa Semedo, try to control proceedings in the middle of the park.
List of invited players for #GuineaBissau #soarsupereagles pic.twitter.com/w3rTeQZ15O
— ???????? Super Eagles (@NGSuperEagles) March 16, 2023
In the defence, only Calvin Bassey and Zaidu Sanusi are the regular faces with the likes of Kenneth Omeruo, Semi Ajayi and Kelvin Akpoguma last featuring in over a year while Daniel Bameyi and Bruno Onyemaechi are the debutants. This would mean a new-look Nigerian defence and there are no guarantees what sort of performance they would put in owing to their lack of chemistry which again Guinea-Bissau can exploit.
In goal, Francis Uzoho is expected to start with new faces Victor Sochima and Under-20 AFCON bronze medalist Kingsley Aniagboso in reserve. While Uzoho has established himself as number one for almost six years, he still does not instill the kind of confidence his predecessors Vincent Enyeama and Carl Ikeme had.
Guinea-Bissau don’t have a fancy squad like Nigeria which makes them underdogs but they still boost of decent players such as winger Jorginho and forward Zinho Gano who can do some damage. The Super Eagles must therefore be on their guard and make home advantage count if they are to realise their AFCON qualification objective very early.
