AFCON 2019 : Nigeria vs South Africa – A cracking rivalry renewed
The quarter-final stages of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations commences today with two relatively tough fixtures where the underdogs will be looking to pull surprise results and progress into the semi-final stages of the competition.
One of such cracking fixtures is the one between the Super Eagles of Nigeria and the Bafana Bafana of South Africa. This is unarguably of the best matches of this round.
Nigeria eliminated perennial rivals Cameroon in a high scoring 3:2 win. The Super Eagles took the lead in the first half of the game only for the Indomitable Lions to score 2 quickfire goals and enter into halftime with the lead.
However, Nigeria bounced back in the second half with two goals that saw them run out 3:2 winners. Meanwhile, the Bafana had a very big task before them as they took on hosts Egypt in a jampacked Cairo International Stadium.
Regardless, the Bafana Bafana contained Egypt’s pressure and stole the win through a well-taken goal from Thembinbkosi Lorch in the 85th minute. It was a very shocking result!
The two perennial rivals will now face each other on Wednesday evening in an encounter that the Super Eagles have always dominated in a competitive capacity. However, the Bafana Bafana have improved tremendously in recent times and are no more pushovers for the Super Eagles.
South Africa have proved this in the last 5 competitive games between the two sides where each side has 1 win apiece and 3 draws between them, the latest win going to South Africa in a 2 nil win over Nigeria in 2017 in an AFCON qualifier. Nigeria were the home side.
The two sides are now set for a fireworks cracker that has seen fans of the two nations have a go at each other on social media ahead of the tie on Wednesday, albeit, the talking will be done on the pitch by the actual footballers.
The Bafana Bafana have scored twice and conceded twice in the competition thus far while the Super Eagles have scored 5 goals and conceded 4.
Ahead of the game, South Africa’s coach Stuart Baxter is having the laugh over Nigeria’s manager Gernot Rohr after being unbeaten in their last two encounters.
Nigeria are favorites but this one is actually hard to call seeing how the supposed underdogs in the competition have been progressing steadily thus far.
We have a game on our hands tonight. It will surely be entertaining and hopefully, the likes of Odion Ighalo, Percy Tau, Alex Iwobi, and Bongani Zungu will have a significant say in the final outcome.
