AFCON: Congo, Nigeria In Crucial Make Or Mar Cracker

Congo hosts reigning African champions Nigeria in a fairly square game for the crucial 2015 Africa Cup of Nations’ qualifiers at Stade Municipal de Pointe-Noire on Saturday, 15th November.

The Red Devils square up against Nigeria in a second leg clash in Point Noire with the advantage of an away win over Nigeria.

Congo lie second in Group A with seven points from four games, a point less than leaders South Africa. Nigeria lie three points off Congo in third place and a win for the Super Eagles will mean they stand a good chance of qualifying if they can win again at home to Bafana Bafana on Wednesday night.

Congo shocked Nigeria in the fist leg, winning 3-2 in Calabar. It was Nigeria’s first home loss in a qualifier since 1981.

Congo sit second in Group A and will seal their place at next year’s Afcon should they defeat Nigeria.

The Red Devils have strengthened their attack by inviting Dominique Malonga, who plays in the Scottish league to add bite in their attack.

The 25-year-old striker joined current club Hibernian from Italian Serie A side Cesena and has hit the ground running, netting six times in nine appearances.

Nigeria find themselves in the deep end after a horror start to the qualifiers that saw them lose to Congo, draw in South Africa and then lose 1-0 in Sudan.

However, Super Eagles kept their hope alive after beating Sudan 3-1 at home in their last match. Ahmed Musa, CSKA Moscow forward, opened the scoring three minutes into the second half, but Sudan stunned Nigeria with an equaliser only seven minutes later. The Super Eagles were not to be denied, though, and Aaron Samuel marked his full debut with a goal to put them back in front before Musa eased the tension with a third goal after 89 minutes.

Super Eagles midfielder, Ogenyi Onazi fears that Claude Le Roy and his team stand a good position of denying Nigeria but however, remains confident of a win.

“They will come out confident, and their fans will be behind them and they will get all the support they need.

“But we just want to go there well prepared as we are now and just believe that God will give us the grace because we cannot afford not to be in the Nations cup.”

Nigerian midfielder, Ramon Azeez, has sounded a warning signal to Super Eagles about Congo striker, Thievy Bifouma, ahead of Saturday’s crucial clash.

According to Azeez, Bifouma, a teammate of Azeez at Almeria, says Bifouma has the capability of dashing Nigeria’s chances of reaching the 2015 AFCON if the striker is not tactically caged. Bifouma will come into this match even more confident than he usually is.

Besides netting a double against Nigeria in Calabar, he proved his worth by scoring a brilliant goal against Barcelona in La Liga last Saturday. Another key strength for the Congolese is their coach, Claude Le Roy, one of the most respected coaches in African football.

Coach Stephen Keshi is talking tough ahead of the crucial cracker saying his boys are ready for the battle in Point Noire.

“Well, I don’t know but in our team there are no distractions. We tend to concentrate and do what we have to do.”

This comes after Keshi claimed sabotage in last month’s 1-0 loss to Sudan in Khartoum, which caused a lot of storm within the Nigerian football circles.

Congo has the advantage of playing at home and looking at Nigeria’s recent record, the Congolese will be confident of keeping them at bay. Nigeria is yet to score a goal in their two away matches against South Africa and Sudan.

If Congo beats Nigeria, they will make it to the African Cup of Nations, and upset the hopes of the defending champions; that they can do and would have the support of their fans behind them when the two teams march tomorrow.

Congo will be confident after beating Nigeria in the reverse fixture. A draw against the continental champions will be enough for Congo to book their spot in next year’s showpiece and they might just do that.

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