The Super Eagles of Nigeria will be out to avoid another banana peel in the AFCON 2025 qualifiers as they confront the Cheetahs of Benin Republic at the Stade Félix Houphouët Boigny on Thursday, writes David Meshioye.
There is a German proverb that translates as “God punish all small sinners immediately.” As sacrilegious as it sounds, it might serve in the case of Benin Republic gaffer, Gernot Rohr who mocked his former Nigerian employers after Super Eagles bit the dust against Benin Republic in the World Cup qualifiers at the Stade Félix Houphouët Boigny back in June.
Two months later in Uyo, the stoned-faced gaffer paid dearly for his outburst as Nigeria eased past the Cheetahs with a 3-0 win in their 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifier with goals coming from Ademola Lookman and Victor Osimhen.
With 10 points in the bag, it has been an extremely impressive qualifying campaign for Nigeria as they once again face neighbours Benin Republic in the reverse fixture of 2025 AFCON qualifiers on Thursday, November 14, at the Stade Félix Houphouët Boigny with Nigeria needing a draw to book a passage to Morocco.
But as elated as fans and stakeholders feel ahead of the clash, interim coach Austin Eguavoen has continued to urge Nigerians to remain calm, always telling them that his team is still a work in progress.
Smarting from their unsettling incident that left the entire team stranded in Libya, thus earning Nigeria three valuable points without kicking a ball after the Confederation of African Football (CAF) ruling, the Super Eagles will be gunning for another three points in the bag to finally put Benin Republic where they belong and most importantly make their next home game against Rwanda a dead rubber encounter.
The Cheetahs have since backed up their giant-killers’ tag with a strong qualification campaign ahead of Thursday’s win-or-break tie after they achieved a 2-1 victory over Libya in Abidjan and followed that up with an impressive 3-0 win against Rwanda.
But the 2-1 loss to Rwanda in the reverse fixture plunged them back into troubled waters and coach Rohr would need to dig deeply into his technical books of tricks and come out with a formation to beat Nigeria if they must squeeze into Maroc 2025.
It is no small achievement that Benin Republic kept their heads above the parapet of unbelief as coach Gernot Rohr continued to say to all doubting Thomases back home that they won’t be returning to Cotonou empty-handed
CAF has picked Senegalese referee Issa Sy to officiate Thursday’s match. He has previously refereed a game in which the Super Eagles achieved victory over Angola. Sy will be supported by his compatriots, El Hadji Amadou Sy as the fourth official, Nouha Bangoura as assistant referee 2, and Djibril Camara as assistant referee 1. Ivorian Rene Williams Sere will serve as the match commissioner, while Angolan Inacio Manuel Candido will act as the referee assessor.
Head-To-Head
Nigeria have won nine times while Benin Republic emerged victorious twice in their last 11 meetings with bookmakers tipping their Thursday’s clash to end in a stalemate. The Cheetahs could only manage to score five goals against their West African neighbours, with Nigeria putting 19 goals past Benin,
Team News (Nigeria)
Nigeria will be armed to the teeth going into this encounter with the return of towering Galatasaray forward, Victor Osimhen after picking up an injury. Real Sociedad forward, Sadiq Umar also staged a comeback to the side after suffering a cruciate ligament injury and joined the camp on Wednesday.
Team News – Benin Republic
There are no injury worries ahead of this encounter but all eyes will be on the defensive trio of Rachid Mimouni, Olivier Verdon and Mohamed Tidjani to tighten the lines to minimise the positioning errors that have cost dearly in the past.
Also, the return of creative players like Andreas Hountondji will be vital in their quest to destabilise the Nigerian defence line. Coach Roh is not unaware of the daunting task before his team, but he is beaming with confidence ahead of the match, telling those who care to listen that it won’t be a stroll in the park for Nigeria in Abidjan.
“The task will be difficult against a full Super Eagles, but we believe in it,” Rohr confided after the training session on Tuesday.
