Super Eagles first choice goalkeeper, Stanley Nwabali, is said to be fit to start this evening’s 2023 AFCON Quarter-final encounter with the Palancas Negras of Angola but Coach Jose Peseiro has indicated he may not want to risk the safe hands if he is not fit enough for the tie.
Recall that Nwabali, who has won the hearts of Nigerian football fans with his excellent goalkeeping, was stretchered off in the second half of the Round of 16 fixture with Cameroon after he was injured.
The winner of today’s encounter will square up with the winner of the clash between Cape Verde’s Blue Sharks and South Africa’s Bafana Bafana in one of the semi final matches, at the Stade de la Paix in Bouake.
Meanwhile, Senegalese official, Issa Sy, will be the referee when Nigeria take on Angola at the Stade Félix Houphouët-Boigny in Abidjan.
Sy will have compatriots Djibril Camara and Nouha Bangoura in tow as assistant referee 1 and assistant referee 2 respectively, alongside Mauritanian official, Abdel Aziz Bouh as fourth official.
Modibo Samake from Mali will serve as reserve assistant referee, while Ahmad Nazeer Hossen Bowud from Mauritius and Ali Mohamed Ahmed from Somalia will be in the roles of commissioner and referee assessor respectively.
The match, which will commence at 5pm Cote d’Ivoire time (6pm Nigeria time) will be another occasion Nigeria and Angola tango on the turf, with few clashes between both nations at senior level over the years.
Nigeria edged Angola to reach the final round of the qualification series for the 1990 FIFA World Cup finals (2-2 in Luanda and 1-0 in Lagos), but the Angolans stepped on Nigeria to make their single appearance at the FIFA World Cup finals, when they won 1-0 in Luanda and held the Eagles 1-1 in Kano to edge the head-to-head contest that was the determining factor for the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification series.
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