As the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations continues to be shock-filled, South Africa’s Bafana Bafana are already dreaming of a place in the final match. The South Africans, champions at home in 1996, and  had diminished to medium powers hope for an upset against Morocco in the last of the Round of 16 encounters.

According to reports gleaned from South African newspaper, The Citizen, the Bafana Bafana coach, Hugo Broos is buoyed by the spate of upsets and is looking forward for another of such surprise. Although he acknowledged the challenge that awaits his team in facing Africa’s best-ranked team, he wants to make another surprise.

He believes if his team overcomes Morocco, the doors to the final match are invitingly opened. The winner of the encounter will face Cape Verde in the quarter-finals. In the semi-finals, the winners of Morocco/South Africa versus Cape Verde will face Nigeria/Angola.

That confrontation is considered relatively easy by Hugo Broos.

South Africa’s head coach Hugo Broos has acknowledged the challenge awaiting his team as Morocco’s Atlas Lions poised to win the AFCON trophy this year.

Broos, however, has confidence in his squad, stressing that a win against Morocco means that Bafana Bafana can reach the final.

“If we beat Morocco we have a big chance to play in the final, we will know we have beaten a very good team, and in the next round we will avoid a big team,” South African media quoted  Broos as saying last week.

Head Coach José Peseiro has warned his Super Eagles to keep level heads and manage the euphoria of their quarter-final qualification, as they countenance a potentially-tough last-8 clash with Angola’s Palancas Negras on Friday.

The Portuguese gaffer told LN247 crew in Abidjan on Monday that he has continued to sing it to the players that the team is yet to win anything, and that full consciousness and concentration must be activated ahead of the evening encounter at the Stade Félix Houphouët-Boigny.

“I am telling them that we are only in the last-8, that we still have some way to go, and that the farther we go, the tougher the opposition becomes. We have played four matches and won three, so we must keep level heads as we go forward.

“Our philosophy is that there are no small teams here at the Africa Cup. Every team qualified to be here, and every team in the knockout phase qualified from a group phase. Any team in the last-8 is good enough for the trophy. We believe we are good enough for the trophy, but we must continue working and putting out our best on match days.”

The Negras eliminated Namibia’s Brave Warriors with a 3-0 spanking in the Round of 16, Gelson Dala hitting a brace against the regional rivals at the Stade de la Paix in Bouake.

Ahead of Friday’s Africa Cup of Nations quarterfinal clash with Nigeria, players of the Angola national team have been rewarded with cash and material gifts.

The Palancas Negras, who are fresh off a commanding 3-0 victory over Namibia in the Round of 16, were also promised cash gifts if they advanced to the final.

As reported by Angola Press Agency, Banco Angolano de Investimento, a bank in Angola, announced that it would reward each Angola player and coaching staff with the sum of five million Kwanzas (equivalent to approximately N5.41 million).

Aguinaldo Jaime, the President of the Board of Directors of UNITEL, a private Angolan mobile phone company, also gave an iPhone 15 with free calls, SMS, and internet for a year to every member of the Angolan delegation in Cote d’Ivoire.

The company Sodiam EP also pledged a substantial amount of $250,000 to both the national team and technical team if Angola secured a spot in the final of the 34th edition of the Nations Cup.

The Super Eagles of Nigeria will face Angola at the Felix Houphouet-Boigny Stadium, Abidjan, on Friday, February 2, 2024, by 6 pm.

Both teams come into this match with an unbeaten record in the tournament.

The company Sodiam EP also pledged a substantial amount of $250,000 to both the national team and technical team if Angola secured a spot in the final of the 34th edition of the Nations Cup.

The Super Eagles of Nigeria will face Angola at the Felix Houphouet-Boigny Stadium, Abidjan, on Friday, February 2, 2024, by 6 pm.

Both teams come into this match with an unbeaten record in the tournament.

Nigeria had victories against Cote d’Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, and four-time champions Cameroon in the quarterfinals.

While the major target for countries at the Africa Cup of Nations is the pride of victory and getting hands on the prestigious title, CAF has also prepared mouth-watering cash rewards for each level of victory attained.

As the Super Eagles are gearing up for a quarterfinal clash against Angola’s Palancas Negras at the 34th Africa Cup of Nations in Côte d’Ivoire, the match not only presents an opportunity to get a last-4 spot but also a massive $2.5 million prize (approximately N2.2B) for the victorious side.

The $2.5 million prize is stipulated by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) for teams advancing to the semi-finals of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.

This is an added motivation for the Super Eagles, who have already secured $800,000 for progressing beyond the group stage and $1.3 million for defeating Cameroon to reach the last-8.

Beyond the mouth-watering financial rewards, the AFCON quarterfinal clash against Angola brings back to the Nigerian people, memories of the role the Angolan team played in thwarting Nigeria’s 2006 FIFA World Cup participation hopes. The Super Eagles’ hopes were dashed after a narrow 1-0 loss in Luanda followed by a tense 1-1 draw in Kano.

The match also carries emotional weight as Nigerian football enthusiasts remember the tragic passing of Eagles star Samuel Okwaraji during a 1990 World Cup qualifier against Angola.

Nigeria’s 2023 AFCON quater-final clash vs Angola is scheduled to take place at the Stade Félix Houphouët-Boigny in Abidjan on Friday, February 2, 2024 .

While the Palancas Negras aim for their first-ever semifinal appearance, Nigeria brings a formidable track record, reaching the semifinals in 15 out of their previous 19 appearances in the competition.

Mali exhibited grit and determination as they secured a place in the quarter-finals of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) with a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Burkina Faso.

The Eagles soared with a goal in each half to set up a crucial quarter-final clash with tournament hosts Ivory Coast, who advanced after defeating defending champions Senegal in the round of 16 via a penalty shootout.

Mali went 2-0 up with an Edmond Tapsoba own goal in the third minute and a Lassine Sinayoko strike in the 47th minute before Burkina Faso’s spirited efforts to fightbaclk meant the Eagles had to endure a tense ending after Bertrand Traore converted a second-half penalty to narrow the score to 2-1.

Despite Burkina Faso’s impressive performance and several chances created by the Stallions, Mali held firm to secure the 2-1 victory, bringing an end to Burkina Faso’s commendable run in the tournament.

Burkina Faso had finished second in Group D, alongside Algeria and Angola, but their journey was halted in the first knockout round by Mali, who emerged as the leaders of Group E.

And the shocks continues! It has been one of the most shock-laden Africa Cup of Nations as South Africa have upset the tournament’s favourites, Morocco to reach the quarter finals.

The Bafana Bafana coach, Hugo Broos has lived up to his pre-match statements that his team was going to upset Morocco which he considered the biggest obstacle to the final match.

After a barren first half, Evidence Makgopa  set the stadium agog in the 57^th minute when he put South Africa ahead.

Achraf Hakimi missed a late chance to equalise from the penalty spot. He was afforded a golden opportunity to level when Mothobi Mvala  handled Ayoub El Kaabi’s shot, only to fire his 85th minute spot-kick against the crossbar.

Manchester United midfielder Sofyan Amrabat was dismissed in stoppage time before Teboho Mokoena curled a classy free-kick past Bono to confirm the upset in style.

Nigerian fans have hailed Super Eagles striker, Victor Osimhen, for his fitness and seemingly unending energy after he was cleared alongside teammates Willian Troost-Ekong and Moses Simon following multiple dope tests by the Confederation of African Football at the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast.

Most Nigerian fans online were confident Osimhen would pass the dope tests and they heaved a sigh of relief after the results were released by CAF.

The Napoli striker scored the Eagles opening goal at the tournament in the 1-1 stalemate versus Equatorial Guinea and was fouled for the penalty that gave Nigeria a 1-0 win over Ivory Coast. He then he put up an amazing fighting performance against Cameroon as they won 2-0 in a last-16 clash on Sunday.

He set up the first goal for Ademola Lookman and was a constant menace for the Cameroonians, before he was replaced by Paul Onuachu late in the game.

In Nigeria’s four games so far at the AFCON tournament, Osimhen played over 90 minutes in three games, while his lowest time on the pitch was 88 minutes in the game against Ivory Coast.

The 25-year-old is an assertive character on the pitch, always tracking back to assist the team defensively and is constant menace while pressuring opposition defences, which led to Nigeria’s first goal against Cameroon on Saturday.

Osimhen displayed strength and alertness to win possession off a stunned Indomitable Lions defender Oumar Gonzalez just outside the penalty area, then picked out Ademola Lookman with a diagonal pass to the right of the penalty area and the Atalanta winger’s shot squeezed in through Ondoa’s gloves to give Nigeria the lead.

A sports physician, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Osimhen’s power play was not “anything out of the ordinary.”

“Doping tests are either done randomly or targeted, the process by which they are done is determined by the sporting federation or the testing body on site. However, I don’t think his performances have been anything out of the ordinary for an athlete who trains and works on his fitness.

“I am sure he has been tested severally by the Italian FA. A doping test is just done so that everyone can play safe under football’s fair play rules.”

Nigerian fans took to social media platform, X, to hail the energetic striker amid the doping tests.

@ThefootwearG boasted about Nigeria’s natural abilities and not needing any drugs.

“So they decided to run an unexpected dope test for some of our players, Osimhen, Moses Simon and Ekong. Guess what ?? All results came out negative. We don’t need drugs to boost, we are natural,” he wrote.

A fan with the username, @ojimipeke, added, “Congratulations to Victor Osimhen on getting cleared by CAF as dope test came out negative.”