Belief appears to be back again as fans now have heightened faith in their darling Super Eagles, and it is not so hard to see why. After a spate of unconvincing performances that saw the national senior football team miss out on the African nations cup on two consecutive occasions intermingled by a not-so-inspiring world cup outing in Brazil, fans saw no reason to keep the verve in supporting the team as they sustain their love for foreign clubs that they have been reverently following.
However, the hope [of the Nigerian football fans] has been raised again with the Eagles having qualified for the world cup in Russia next year with a game to spare- a feat which has been elusive in time past. The game [though a dead rubber game] is against the Fennecs of Algeria. Having met on eighteen (18) different occasions, the two nations are definitely no stranger to each other. They have both had their fair share of victories over one another with Nigeria winning nine (9) of the matches while Algeria has six wins.
The biggest victory Algeria has ever recorded against Nigeria was the 5-1 win at Algiers '90, and Nigeria has also had her pound of flesh over the Fennecs on several occasions. In fact, the last time Algeria beat Nigeria was way back in 1990 when they recorded a 1-0 victory over the Clemens Westerhof led Super Eagles at the final of the Nations cup in 1990.
It is quite interesting yo note that both teams obtained their first world cup ticket at each other's expense- first, Algeria defeated Nigeria 4-1 on aggregate to qualify for the 1982 world cup in Spain while the golden generation of the Nigerian senior national team had some sort of revenge by defeating Algeria 5-2 (aggregate scoreline) enroute qualifying for USA '94. Since then the Super Eagles have have had the Fennecs tucked in their wings, recording six straight wins in the process.
The match at hand
The sting seems to have been taken out of this match as the fates of both teams have been sealed- Nigeria having already qualified sits atop the group with 13 points from five (5) games as Algeria, after a string of poor results, stays rock bottom with just 1 point from the same number of games. Nonetheless, there's still something to play for.
Algeria, on their part will be looking to play for pride, and their new coach will certainly want to start on a good note by registering a win against an opposition that appears to be stronger on paper. For Nigeria- who will be missing the services of some key players like Victor Moses, Moses Simon, Ogenyi Onazi and Mikel Agu- finishing the qualifying campaign untainted is an objective everyone [in the Nigerian camp] is nursing. This is also echoed by the Nigerian coach, Gernot Rohr who will be leading his charge to go for the opponent's 'jugular' right in front of their teeming fans. Plus, the game presents the avenue for the coach to test certain players who have been raring to show what they have got up their sleeves.
A lot has happened since the two teams last met in Uyo about a year ago with Algeria having been under the tutelage of two different coaches- George Leekens and Rajevac Milovan- before Rabah Madjer took over the reins. Madjer was the chief architect of Nigeria's humiliation back in 1990 but it remains to be seen how well an influence he will be from the bench as the Fennecs take on the Super Eagles in this final round of the world cup qualification series.
The match is billed for the 10th of November, 2017 at the the Mohamed-Hamlaoui stadium in Constantine by 8:30 PM Nigerian time.