When the draw for the group phase of the next Africa Cup of Nations was made, the general feeling amongst Nigerian football fans was one of quiet confidence and optimism.
The Eagles have been drawn in Group D, alongside seven-time champions, Egypt, Sudan and Guinea-Bissau.
With the top two in each group, and four best third-placed teams across the six groups moving into the next round, it will take a series of calamitous performances from the Super Eagles for them to miss out on the Round of 16.
Nigeria will be favourites to qualify for the knock-out rounds on football betting platforms like 1xBet Nigeria, but stranger things have happened in this beautiful game.
Cast your mind back to the last AFCON in 2019 when Nigeria made a meal of a group that had Madagascar, Burundi and Guinea.
We suffered the ignominy of defeat against minnows Madagascar, and needed late goals to scrap past the other two nations in the group. Gernot Rohr’s men finished second in the group behind Madagascar.
Nigeria somewhat made amends for their lethargic showing in the group phase with excellent knockout wins over Cameroon and South Africa before falling to eventual champions Algeria in the last four.
Events from 2019 show that the Eagles cannot afford to take anything for granted.
Egypt are obviously the most accomplished of our Group D opponents, and will rightly get a lot of our attention, but the Super Eagles must keep a very keen eye on the other teams in the group.
Sudan are especially dangerous- they finished just one point behind Ghana in the qualifying series, and qualified ahead of South Africa- while Guinea-Bissau will have plenty to prove against their more illustrious group opponents.
Given the unpredictability of African Football, it is not beyond the realms of possibility for the minnows to cause an upset. Madagascar did it three years ago; so why can they not do it now?
And Nigerian fans still have not forgotten how the Eagles squandered a 4-0 lead against Sierra Leone in Benin during the qualifying series.
A bad day in the office against any of these sides could spell serious trouble for the Eagles.
All hands must be on deck as they go after a fourth continental title.
While qualifying for the knock-out rounds is the No. 1 priority, Gernot Rohr’s men must also look to get one of the top two positions so that they can avoid a potential meeting with one of the big guns in the competition.
AFCON 2022 is a huge tournament for Eagles’ boss, Rohr, who will be under great pressure to deliver a fourth AFCON title to the country.
Rohr became Eagles boss in August 2016, inheriting a team that had disgracefully failed to qualify for consecutive Cup of Nations, but he has overseen a period of relatively stable results without achieving anything spectacular.
He led the team to third place at the 2019 AFCON, a year after falling at the round robin phase of the FIFA World Cup in Russia.
Nigerians are now demanding for more from the German coach.
Rohr’s team will once again be amongst the favourites to become African champions when the AFCON is staged in Cameroon in January and February next year.
