FIXTURES:
Sunday, January 23@7pm:
Burkina Faso v Gabon
Sunday, January 23@10pm:
Nigeria v Tunisia
The highly-billed clash between Nigeria and Tunisia on Sunday (January 23) night could set the tone for the Super Eagles’ fourth Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) title.
The two former AFCON champions (Nigeria have three titles while Tunisia has one) meet in the second game of the round-of-16 at the ongoing 2021 AFCON Finals in Cameroon.
This late kick-off game (at 10pm Ugandan time) will be preceded by Burkina Faso and Gabon, kicking off 7pm Ugandan time, as the round-of-16 gets underway.
The Super Eagles, as Nigeria’s national team is fondly nicknamed, excited as many fans and pundits by winning their three group matches against Egypt (1-0), Guinea-Bissau (2-0) and Sudan (3-1).
Tunisia’s Carthage Eagles were quite unconvincing in the group phase and only scrapped through to the round-of-16 after thrashing lowly-rated Mauritania (4-0). They lost the other two Group F games to more credible opponents in Mali (0-1) and Gambia (0-1).
HEAD-TO-HEAD RECORD
However, apart from their current poor tournament form, the Carthage Eagles match the Super Eagles in the head-to-head record.
In the past 20 games played between the two teams, the Carthage Eagles have beaten the Super Eagles six times and drawn eight times. The Super Eagles have six wins, too.
The Tunisians could draw big morale from this head-to-head statistics as they prepare to take on Nigeria. The North Africans last won the AFCON title in 2004 compared to their West African nations who were last crowned AFCON champions in 2013.
Both teams boast an array of stars plying their trade in top European leagues. Ugandan fans that keenly follow the English Premier League, Iheanacho Kelechi of Leicester City, will sway their support towards Nigeria’s Super Eagles.