Nigeria’s Super Eagles are flying high so far at the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations and will be hoping to complete a perfect group stage in their final Group D match against Guinea-Bissau. Nigeria manager Augustine Eguavoen will likely rotate a couple of squad members into the starting lineup with first place already secured while attempting to maintain the team’s momentum heading into the Round of 16. Guinea-Bissau have one last shot at accomplishing their goal of reaching the knockout stages and the Djurtus will need to win on Wednesday with a squad that has been constantly depleted by Covid-19.
Eguavoen acknowledged in pre-match comments that he still has some concerns about the attack and criticized his team’s finishing against Sudan, a match the Super Eagles could have won by a more lopsided score. One player who could get his first chance in Cameroon is Slavia Prague forward Peter Olayinka, who was a last-minute replacement and now looks likely to add to his two appearances for Nigeria at the senior level. The Super Eagle players have emphasized in their comments the lesson that many of Africa’s top teams are learning in Cameroon, which is that there are no small teams in the Africa Cup of Nations. The team will need to play that perspective out on the pitch because Guinea-Bissau is a very capable and determined side.
Guinea-Bissau were hopeful of advancing to the knockout stage of the AFCON for the first time in their history, but a disappointing draw against Sudan and bad luck against Egypt has them with only one point and needing a win to qualify out of Group D. Covid-19 continues to have a substantial impact on the Djurtus and reports came out that half of the team’s delegation has been forced to return to Guinea-Bissau due to infections, including the entire governing body of the country’s football federation. It is not known exactly how many players were included in the wave of infections, but manager Baciro Candé will have to improvise in his starting lineup yet again. The team has performed better as the competition proceeds and the Djurtus earned the endorsement of Egypt manager Carlose Queiroz, who stated that Guinea-Bissau gave his side plenty of headaches.
Plenty of links are below previewing the match and providing the team news for both sides.
