By Abdulwasiu Hassan
All eyes on the African continent will Wednesday be on Côte d'Ivoire where four African teams will battle for the two spots in the final of 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).
The team with most AFCON medals, Nigerian Super Eagles, will slug it out with the Bafana Bafana of South Africa which edged out, the Atlas Lions of Morocco, the team that made history in just about a year ago as the first African team to get to Semi-finals of World Cup.
The Super Eagles vs Bafana Bafana match will be played at the Stade de Paix in Bouake at 5:00pm GMT.
In the Second semi-final match will be played between Les Leopards of Congo DR and the tournament’s host, The Elephants of Côte d'Ivoire who knocked out the AFCON holder, the Teranga Lions of Senegal by 8:00pm GMT.
Having gone through all their group stages, two phases of the knock-out stages, the four teams and their supporters would be willing to give their all to be able to secure a place in the final of the tournament when the matches starts on Wednesday.
Super Eagles
The Super Eagles of Nigeria are the most successful team in AFCON among the remaining teams in the competition, having won AFCON gold medal three times, silver medal four times and bronze 8 times.
“When you look at head to head, Nigeria has an edge. And then even if you look at ranking in Africa and in the World, the Super Eagles are ranked 6th in Africa and 42nd in the World, while their opponents, the Bafana Bafana are ranked 12th in Africa and 62nd in the World, David Ngobua, a Nigerian journalist told TRT AFrika.
David added that apart from pedigree in the competition, the Super Eagles are ahead of the Bafana Bafana in terms of head to head record as the Nigerians won 7 of the fourteen encounters the two teams had in the past while the South Africans won two.
Reigning African Footballer of the year, Nigeria’s Victor Osimhen, has been declared fit for the encounter after doubts over a stomach upset he suffered just days to the encounter.
Ismaila Umaru Lere, a sports analyst, thinks that the Nigerian Super Eagles can beat the Bafana Bafana by at least two goals.
Bafana Bafana
The Bafana Bafana of South Africa won the 1996 edition of AFCON, which they hosted after emerging from apartheid minority rule. Since that time the team has only been able to win silver medal in 1998 and bronze medal 2000.
However, the surprises the team made up mainly of players from a local South African professional football team, Mamelodi Sundowns is one of the reasons analysts are wary of writing off the South Africans just like that.
“But that is not to take away anything from the South Africans considering the fact that they eliminated Morocco which made history by becoming the first African team to reach the Semi-final of FIFA men’s world cup,” Ngobua told TRT Afrika.
Nine out of the first 11 of Bafana Bafana players in their last match are playing their professional football with local South African side Mamelodi Sundowns. The South Africans were able to use the local players to edge out the start-studded Moroccan team.
The fact that the bulk of the players have been playing together as a team from their club in South Africa, and therefore understand each other better can use their resulting cohesion to their advantage when they meet Nigerian Super Eagles.
The Bafana Bafana players can take inspiration from the 2008 team Pharaohs of Egypt most of whom were playing for local Egyptian sides who went on to defend the title the team had won in 2006, according to some analysts.
The Elephants
The Elephants of Côte d'Ivoire have been improving after struggling to qualify from the group stage of the 2023 AFCON.
The host nation which has won AFCON two times, silver medals two times, bronze medal four times and fourth position two times surprised many when it eliminated the winners of the last edition of AFCON and came from behind to knock out Mali from AFCON.
Analysts believe that the presence of the home fans will be an added advantage to the Elephants of Côte d'Ivoire as they would chair them on to victory. However, analysts say the match is not likely going to a walk-over for the Ivorians.
“The Elephants will need more than luck to advance into the final as they will find the zesty and burly Congo a tough opponent to crack,” said Lere.
Les Leopards
Though they didn’t win any match during the group stage of AFCON, The Leopards of DR Congo were able to defeat Egypt and Guinea on their way to the Semi Final of AFCON. The Congolese national team won AFCON trophy two times, bronze medal two times and fourth place once.
“So, what Congo need to do is to be confident, be determined to be able to play against The Elephants on the pitch and the Ivorians in the stands because they will not be meeting just The Elephants,” Ngobua told TRT Afrika.
“They will be meeting their teeming supporters in the stands. So, Congo will have to do extra, do something extra against Ivory Coast. If they don’t, then like Segun Odegbami said we will be seeing Ivory Coast playing the final match against the Super Eagles of Nigeria,” he said.
However there are those who believe that who believe that some of Côte d'Ivoire’s key players who will not play can be an advantage for the Congolese.
“The Ivorians will be missing some key players due to suspension including influential captain Serge Aurier and striker Christian Kouame while the speedy Congolese are brimming with talent and confidence for their all-important clash with the host nation,” Lere told TRT Afrika.
However, whether the teams will play based on expectations of analysts or not will only be known at the end of the paying times in the two semi-final matches in Côte d'Ivoire.
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