Both Nigeria and Egypt meet in Garoua, Cameroon  on Tuesday as attention shifts to Group D in the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations. It is a potentially an epic confrontation of two of the teams with the best records in the Africa Cup of Nations history. This match is coming a day to the 11th anniversary of their encounter of 12 January 2010 when they met at the Angola 2010 Africa Cup of Nations.

As usual, www.sportsvillagesquare.com takes an insightful look at the match and comes out with the following points of interest.

• When Paul Onuachu scored within eight seconds against Egypt in a friendly match played at the Stephen Keshi Stadium in Asaba on 26 march 2019, it entered the  record books as the second fastest goal in international football.
• This Tuesday’s match will be Nigeria’s 94^th Africa Cup of Nations match since the 1963 debut in Kumasi, Ghana.
• This match will be Egypt’s 101^st match in the Africa Cup of Nations’ history. 
• Egypt, playing under the flag of United Arab Republic, a short-lived union of Egypt and Syria, is the first country that inflicted a home defeat on Nigeria when the team  beat Nigeria’s ‘Red Devils’ 6-2 in Lagos in a Rome 1960 Olympic qualifying tournament played on 13 December 1959.

• Egypt was the team that made Nigeria to switch from red shirts to the now familiar green. It was at the occasion of the return leg match of the Rome Olympic Games’ qualifying tournament played in Cairo on January 1, 1960. The Nigerian team had to change to green since the home country played in red. It was a step towards becoming ‘Green Eagles’ in the months that followed. Nigeria lost the match 0-3.
• Nigeria’s first own goal was scored in the match with Egypt (UAR) on 13 December 1959 when John Onyeador turned the ball into his team’s net after two minutes of kick-off in an eventual 2-6 home loss.
• It was against Egypt that Asuquo Ekpe scored Nigeria’s first Africa Cup of Nations’ goal in a 6-3 loss on November 24, 1963 in Kumasi, Ghana.
• It was in Egypt that Obinna Nsofor scored Nigeria’s 100^th Africa Cup of Nations goal when he found the net in a 1-1 draw with Tunisia on 4 February 2006 in Port Said.
• Until Ghana beat Egypt in the qualifying series for Brazil 2014, Nigeria’s 4-0 defeat of Egypt on 8 October 1977, was the country’s heaviest defeat in a World Cup qualifying match.
• Until Egypt beat Nigeria 3-1 in Benguela, Angola, Nigeria successively had the upper hand in all Africa Cup of Nations’ matches involving both countries from 1976 to 2010.
• Former Nigerian skipper, Stephen Keshi scored the first of his 10 goals for Nigeria when he converted a penalty kick against Egypt in a friendly match on 20 February 1983 in Kaduna to bring scoreline to 1-1.
• The doyen of football coaches in Nigeria, Chief Adegboye Onigbinde made his national team debut as Nigeria’s coach in a 18 February 1983 friendly match with Egypt in Lagos. The match ended goalless.
• Egypt with seven victories won most titles of the Africa Cup of Nations.

• Nigeria with seven third placed positions has the record of most bronze medals.
• Nigeria and Egypt are the only countries to have personalities who won the African titles as players and coaches. Egypt’s Mahmoud El-Gohary won the African Cup as player in 1959 and then as a coach in 1998. Nigeria’s Stephen Keshi won the cup as a player in 1994 and then as a coach in 2013.
• In head-to-head confrontations, Egypt has a slight edge over Nigeria having won eight of 21 encounters while Nigeria won six

P          W         D          L          F          A

Egypt              21         8         7          6          36        29

Nigeria           21         6         7           8          29        36

·  13 Dec. 1959  (Oq, Lagos) Nigeria 2-6 Egypt

·  1 Jan. 1960 (Oq, Cairo)   Egypt 3-0 Nigeria

·  29 Nov. 1960 (F. Lagos) Nigeria 1-2 Egypt

·  24 Nov. 1963 (Afcon, Kumasi) Egypt 6-3 Nigeria

·  14 Jan 1973 (AAG, Lagos) Nigeria 4-2 Egypt

·  14 Mar 1976 (Afcon Dire Dawa) Egypt 2-3 Nigeria

·  8 Oct. 1977 (WCq, Lagos) Nigeria 4-0 Egypt

·  21 Oct. 1977 (WCq, Cairo) Egypt 3-1 Nigeria

·  15 Mar. 1980 (Afcon, Lagos) Nigeria 1-0 Egypt

·  18 Feb. 1983 (F. Lagos) Nigeria 0-0 Egypt

·  20 Feb. 1983 (F. Kaduna) Nigeria 1-1 Egypt

·  14 Mar. 1984 (Afcon, Bouake) Egypt 2-2 Nigeria (7-8 pso)

·  20 Mar. 1988 (Afcon, Rabat) Egypt 0-0 Nigeria

·  5. Mar. 1990 (Afcon, Algiers) Egypt 0-1 Nigeria

·  30 Mar. 1994 (Afcon, Tunis) Egypt 0-0 Nigeria

·  25 Nov 2002 (F. Lagos) Nigeria 1-1 Egypt

·  12 Jan 2010 (Afcon. Benguela) Egypt 3-1 Nigeria

·  12 Apr 2012 (F-Dubai) Egypt 3-2 Nigeria

·  25 Mar 2016 (Afconq, Kaduna) Nigeria 1-1 Egypt

·  29 Mar, 2016 (Afconq, Alexandria) Egypt 1-0 Nigeria

• 26 Mar. 2019 (F, Asaba) Nigeria 1-0 Egypt

Gustavo Sangaré of Burkina Faso is the first scorer of this 33rd edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, Cameroon 2021.

He provided one of the greatest performances of his team on Sunday against Cameroon in the opener of the African biggest football tournament.

The Queville Roue Métropole attacking midfielder in the French Ligue 2 made a successful debut at TotalEnergies AFCON despite his team’s defeat. Sangaré scored points in a personal level.

“It’s true that I scored my team’s goal but in the end we lost to the host country in our first match of the tournament” said the Burkinabé midfielder after the match before adding:

“This goal will push me to work even harder during the next matches to be up to the task and participate in the qualification of Burkina faso in the next round and to go as far as possible “.

Sangare (25) scored his first goal on Sunday in his second match for the Stallions, after a thunderous first appearance against Algeria in Qatar 2022 Qualifier.

The performance of Salitas and Frontignan’s young product reflects the good level of Burkinabe Faso, which moved to Cameroon for the AFCON 2021 with a young team made up of talented players as stated by assistant coach Sanou Firmin.

 “We have a young team that lacks experience but that will not handicap us to achieve a good turn and go as far as possible” announced the assistant coach of Burkina Faso.

A late penalty from talisman Sadio Mane helped Senegal beat Zimbabwe 1-0 in their opening  Africa Cup of Nations, Cameroon match at the Kouekong Stadium in Baffoussam.

The Teranga Lions started the better side in Baffoussam with Bouna Sarr and Sadio Mane pulling the strings for Aliou Cisse’s side.

The duo combined for the first real opening of the match inside the first minute. Mane played Sarr through but his effort failed to hit the target.

Keita Balde scuffed his effort wide from a clever Sadio Mane neat Mane pass, the Liverpool striker turned away from two defenders to set Balde free.

The Teranga Lions dominated possession in the early exchanges through Gana Gueye whose ability to open the play found Fode Ballo on the left channel but his effort was wayward.

The Warriors captain Knowledge Musona tried his luck from distance but his ambitious shot failed to trouble Senegal Seny Dieng. Zimbabwe survived a scare midway through the first half when Sarr latched on to Sadio Mane’s through ball before seeing his shot agonizingly wide off the post.

Mane missed a good chance to break the deadlock when played through with only the keeper to beat the former Generation Foot winger fired straight at the brilliant Petros Mhari.

A swift Senegal counter attack frees Mane who played in Gana Gueye who failed to hit the target with the goal at his mercy.

Defenders Pape Cisse and Abdou Diallo both headed wide from a set plays as Senegal look for the breakthrough against the resilient Warriors of Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe were unlucky not to open the score 15 minutes for time in the highly charged match Baffoussam when Teenage Lingani weak effort was saved by Seny Dieng.

Aliou Cisse’s team won a late penalty when substitute Pape Gueye’s effort came off the arm of defender Kelvin Wilbert in stoppage time and star man Sadio Mane fired in the winner from the spot.

The victory sends Senegal to the summit of the Group B ahead of Guinea’s encounter with Malawi later.

Coach Augustine Eguavoen and his Super Eagles’ wards face a stern examination of their credentials when Nigeria and seven-time champions Egypt go for each other’s jugular in the opening match of Group D of the 33^rd Africa Cup of Nations finals on Tuesday. Venue is the 30,000 –capacity Stade Roumdé Adjia in the northern Cameroonian town of Garoua and kick-off is 5pm.

Egypt swept the stakes at the first two editions of Africa’s flagship football competition, in 1957 and 1959, and then won on home soil in 1986 and in Burkina Faso 12 years later, before a hat-trick of consecutive titles in 2006, 2008 and 2010.

Nigeria soared to glory on home soil in 1980, won in Tunisia in 1994 and overturned bookmakers’ predictions to triumph in South Africa nine years ago.

Both teams are not unfamiliar to themselves at the AFCON, with the Pharaohs hammering the Eagles 6-3 in Nigeria’s first-ever match at the competition (in Ghana in 1963) and coming from behind to tame the Eagles 3-1 in the city of Benguela (Angola) in 2010.

In all other confrontations at the Africa Cup of Nations, the Eagles have had the upper hand.

On their march to victory in 1980, the Eagles sailed past the Pharaohs 1-0 in a group phase clash in Ibadan, and four years later, following a pulsating 2-2 draw in a semi final match in Bouake (Cote d’Ivoire), Nigeria won on penalties to reach the final against Cameroon’s Indomitable Lions.

In 1990, a lone goal by Rashidi Yekini consigned the Pharaohs to defeat in a group phase match in Algiers, and in 1994, both teams battled to a scoreless draw at the Stade Chadli Zouiten in Tunis.

Eguavoen, who leads Nigeria from the bench on Tuesday, was involved in that cagey affair in the cold of central Tunis, but envisages that there will be nothing cagey about Tuesday’s game in the sunny atmosphere of Stade Roumdé Adjia.

“I look forward to an interesting game between two ambitious teams. As I said a couple of weeks ago, we will take it one match at a time. For now, we see the clash with Egypt and all our plan is how to earn the three points. The Egyptians are a strong team and will come with a lot of confidence and steam, but we will also be going to the field with a lot of confidence and steam. It is going to be an interesting evening.”

Nigeria are without top marksman Victor Osimhen, and 2019 AFCON top scorer Odion Ighalo was held back by his Saudi Arabia club. However, the absences create opportunities for a number of young guns to make hay at Africa’s grand houseparty.

Former U17 star Taiwo Awoniyi is expected to lead the line and reproduce some of his potency from which German Bundesliga club Union Berlin is benefitting, with Leicester City’s Kelechi Iheanacho and Czech Republic -based Peter Olayinka also on the line. Skipper Ahmed Musa and Samuel Chukwueze hit target in the training match with Cameroonian top club, Cotonsport Garoua on Friday, and there are also Greece –based Henry Onyekuru and former Olympics star Sadiq Umar as possibilities in the frontline.

Injury has kept out midfield linchpin Oghenekaro Etebo, but Wilfred Ndidi will still enforce and former U17 World Cup –winning captain Kelechi Nwakali is expected to step up to the plate and show muscle in the playmaker’s role.

Defender Leon Balogun’s forced absence, through injury, means Italy-based right back Tyrone Ebuehi will probably start while Chidozie Awaziem and Kenneth Omeruo hold sway in central, and Portugal –based Zaidu Sanusi will contend with the left back role with the versatile Olaoluwa Aina.

Egypt depends heavily on Liverpool ace Mohamed Salah, recently shortlisted for the FIFA Best Player award.

Victory on Tuesday evening will provide confidence boost for the Super Eagles ahead of the other Group D ties against Sudan (January 15) and Guinea Bissau (January 19).

The controversy over Novak Djokovic’s Australian visa application has been “damaging on all fronts”, the men’s professional tennis tour has said.

The ATP also called for more clarity of the rules to enter Australia and urged players to get vaccinated.

Djokovic left an immigration detention hotel on Monday after his visa cancellation was overturned in court.

But Australia’s immigration minister still has powers to re-cancel the visa and deport the unvaccinated player.

“Complications in recent days related to player entry into Australia have… highlighted the need for clearer understanding, communication and application of the rules,” said an ATP statement.

“In travelling to Melbourne, it’s clear Novak Djokovic believed he had been granted a necessary medical exemption in order to comply with entry regulations.

“The series of events leading to Monday’s court hearing have been damaging on all fronts, including for Novak’s well-being and preparation for the Australian Open.”

The controversy over Novak Djokovic’s Australian visa application has been “damaging on all fronts”, the men’s professional tennis tour has said.

The ATP also called for more clarity of the rules to enter Australia and urged players to get vaccinated.

Djokovic left an immigration detention hotel on Monday after his visa cancellation was overturned in court.

But Australia’s immigration minister still has powers to re-cancel the visa and deport the unvaccinated player.

“Complications in recent days related to player entry into Australia have… highlighted the need for clearer understanding, communication and application of the rules,” said an ATP statement.

“In travelling to Melbourne, it’s clear Novak Djokovic believed he had been granted a necessary medical exemption in order to comply with entry regulations.

“The series of events leading to Monday’s court hearing have been damaging on all fronts, including for Novak’s well-being and preparation for the Australian Open.”