Legendary Nigerian footballer, Jay Jay Okocha has given the Super Eagles a word of caution ahead of their 2023 Africa Cup of Nations Round of 16 clash against Cameroon.

Despite Nigeria’s second place finish in Group A with seven points, Okocha feels that the match against Cameroon will be a tough nut to crack for the Super Eagles.

Okocha, who scored in Nigeria’s 2-1 win over Cameroon in 2004, urged the Super Eagles to stay focused to progress to the next stage.

‘It’s for them to try and get the win to progress to the next stage no matter what, but I want to say they should note that it is always difficult against Cameroon’ Okocha said in an interview with SportsBrief.

While Nigeria qualified as runners up in their group, the Indomitable Lions made it through to the knockout stage thanks to a gasping 3-2 victory over Gambia in their final group game.

The Super Eagles of Nigeria will face the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon on Saturday January 27 at the same venue where they defeated Nigeria to claim their
first AFCON title at the Felix Houphouet Boigny stadium.

Source: Cameroon News Agency

The 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) has witnessed some thrills after the end of group stages on Wednesday.

A total of 36 games have been played, with 16 teams making it to the knockout rounds, which will start on Saturday, January 27, 2024.

Here is a compilation of some interesting facts about the group stages:

1. This AFCON has witnessed plenty of goals, and a total of 89 goals have been scored in the group stages, that is 2.4 goals per match.

2. Equatorial Guinea captain Emilo Nsue leads the goal-scoring with five goals, followed by Egypt’s Mostafa Mohammed and Algeria’s Baghdad Bounedjah who have three goals each.

Interestingly, Emilo Nsue plays as a defender for his club, CF Intercity, in Spain’s third-tier league.

3. Cameroon’s Georges-Kevin N’koudou and Equatorial Guinea’s Jose Machin lead the assist chart with three assists each.

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4. Before yesterday, every game played at the AFCON had seen at least one goal scored, but three of yesterday’s games ended in scoreless stalemates.

5. Senegal
is the only team to have won all three games in the group stages.

6. Equatorial Guinea scored the most goals (9) in the group stages, followed by Senegal with eight goals.

7. Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, and Gambia conceded the most number of goals (7) in the group stages with all teams being eliminated.

8. Namibia and Mauritania reached the knockout round for the first time in their football history.

9. There have been four red cards in the tournament thus far.

10. The game between Equatorial Guinea and Guinea Bissau recorded six goals which is the most in a single match at the tournament.

Source: Ghana News Agency