Nigeria - Egypt : Duel Of Soccer Titans

The Super Eagles of Nigeria will today clash against the Pharaohs of Egypt in the opening encounter of group D based in the northern Cameroonian town of Garoua. It will be the seventh time that the two teams are meeting at the final phase of the competition. During their various confrontations, the Super Eagles of Nigeria had an upper hand wining three matches (1980, 1984 and 1990), while the Pharaohs grabbed two victories (1963 and 2010) and drew two.
Twelve years after their last clash, a lot of mutations have been witnessed in both teams. While it is crystal clear that both nations have rejuvenated their squads, it is also true that both teams are inundated with well experienced professional players who ply their trade in renowned teams. If one is to go by the qualifying results, the Super Eagles would not be tipped favourites for today’s encounter at the Roumde Adjia stadium due to several setbacks they encountered while booking their ticket for the tournament. Though there have been some major changes with the technical replacement of Rohr by Augustine Eguavoen, the absence of some key players like Idion Ighalo retained by his club, Wilfred Ndidi and Osihima due to injury is a call for concern. Du...