- Ivory Coast won their first match
- Nigeria picked a point
- Ghana will play Egypt in another huge clash
Ivory Coast will clash with Nigeria in their second group match at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, in what is expected to be an epic duel between the two giants of African football.
Ivory Coast started their campaign with a 2-0 win over Guinea Bissau and will cement a place in the knockout phases with a win, while Nigeria, who started their campaign with a 1-1 draw with Equatorial Guinea have to win or in the least draw to keep their hopes alive.
Nigeria head coach Jose Peseiro will hope for an improved performance from his Super Eagles, especially offensively. They were blunt in goal against Equatorial Guinea in their draw, missing many good chances at goal.
“I was not happy. I deserved to win, this draw doesn’t suit us. Our team created a lot of chances but we didn’t score. We hope that next time, even with fewer opportunities, we will score. We simply have to improve our finishing,” he said after the first game.
He will once again look towards the prowess of reigning African player of the year Victor Osimhen to get his side’s campaign up and running.
Ivory Coast facing tough tie
It will not be easy as Ivory Coast, playing at home, have their eyes fixed on getting a ticket to the knockout phases early enough.
Ghana coaches led by Chris Hughton observe training. PHOTO/Ghana FA
Meanwhile, Ghana’s Black Stars will be looking to bounce back from their opening day defeat at the Africa Cup of Nations when they face a tougher test against record champions Egypt.
Ghana were beaten 2-1 by Cape Verde in their opening match and they must win their duel against Egypt, or at worse scrape a point off if they are to have any realistic hopes of making the knockout rounds.
Head coach Chris Hughton says they have a massive responsibility to ensure they get a result in their match against the Pharaohs.
“We know now that going into the Egypt game, it’s a game that we have to get a good result from. I think that has to be the mentality,” the coach said.
He added; “The players have to be aware of what this means and how disappointed everybody associated with the country and with the team. And we have no choice. We have no choice but to make sure that it’s a favourable result in our next game against Egypt.”
Ghana exited the Cup of Nations in the group stages last time out in Cameroon and they are keen to avoid a similar scenario.
Guinea Bissau seek first AFCON point
Guinea Bissau team
In the early kick off, Guinea Bissau will potentially have one foot out of the 2023 AFCON if they fail to get even a point in their second Group A match against Equatorial Guinea.
The Djurtus suffered a 2-0 defeat to hosts Ivory Coast in their opening match and are in a must win situation to keep their round of 16 dream alive.
Head coach Baciro Cande believes the work is cut out of them and reckons his side will give their all to get their campaign floating again.
“We know we are facing a difficult match because Equatorial Guinea are quite a good side and we saw that from the opening match. For us we have tried to address our shortcomings from the first match and hopefully we can improve a few things,” said the coach.
Equatorial Guinea on the other side picked a point in their opening game, a 1-1 draw with giants Nigeria and the confidence stemming from that game will be key for them in the second encounter.
Coach Juan Micha said they picked several positives from the Nigeria game and will look to get a win, that will hopefully get them assured of a last 16 spot.
“We know how important three points will be for us and that is the focus. We will go there and do our best against an unpredictable opponent,” Micha said.
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