Nigeria battle Libya for three points on Saturday at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium, Uyo in a bid to consolidate their journey of qualifying for the Cameroon 2019 Africa Cup of Nations.
It is the first of their qualifying double-header against the North Africans for the tournament.
After losing their opening match in Group E 2-0 to South Africa last year, the Super Eagles revived their hopes with a 3-0 win over Seychelles in Victoria last month.
The Eagles, who currently sit third with three points, face the Mediterranean Knights, who top the group with four points, in their third match in the qualifying series in Uyo with the fourth match scheduled for Sfax in Tunisia on Tuesday. South Africa are second with four points and they face an easier task against bottom-placed Seychelles over two legs.
Interestingly, Nigeria walk a tightrope as they seek to qualify for the tournament after missing the last two editions of the competition in 2015 and 2017.
They take on a highly-defensive Libyan side, who held Bafana Bafana to a goalless draw in their match played at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban in September.
According to statistics, Nigeria and Libya have previously met only three times. The Eagles have beaten the North Africans twice while the Knights have a victory to their name against Nigeria. Their first meeting was in the LG Cup in 2004 when Libya beat Nigeria 2-1. The second meeting was in a friendly in 2005, which Nigeria won 1-0. The most recent of the meetings was in the group stage of the Morocco 2018 African Nations Championship in January – which Nigeria won 1-0.
Coming into the match, the Eagles have won only two of their last six matches – losing four – while the Libyans have won only one of their last six matches and drawn three with two loss recorded.
Relying on an utterly-defensive approach – which helped them to stop a fast and attacking South African side last month – Libya have a largely home-based team, who have played together for a long while.
Libya’s preparation for the game was thrown into confusion following the resignation of Adel Amrouche as coach of the side on Tuesday. The Libyan Football Federation immediately announced that his former assistant Omar Al-Miryami would lead the team against the Eagles. The Libyans only arrived in Uyo on Friday for the match and were reportedly vaccinated before their trip to Nigeria.
However, they are battling to get tough-tackling defender Ali Maatoug Omran ready for the clash. According to reports, the defender picked up an injury in the Knights’ training on Wednesday.
But following the Seychelles win, Nigeria coach Gernot Rohr is expected to ring some changes in the team especially in the midfield and attack. The Eagles struggled to hold play against the semi-professional Seychelles team and could not convert their chances – which may prove costly if repeated against Libya.
Nigeria’s stand-in captain Ahmed Musa is confident his team can stop Libya and get their AFCON hopes on track.
“Personally, this is the kind of games I love playing in and I am ready help the team to win,” he was quoted as saying by Score Nigeria on Friday.
“We know the importance of the game, so we can’t afford not to win because we did not qualify for the last two editions of the AFCON. We need to push harder till we get the qualification this time. All that Nigerians want from us as a team is to win. I and my teammates are determined and focused on doing that.”
However, former Eagles midfielder Garba Lawal called for caution in the match.
He said, “The Eagles can get a win over Libya if they do the right things – avoid making costly mistakes and exploit the mistakes of their opponents. It will be tougher than what the team saw against Seychelles because the Libyansare more compact and organised – but Nigeria can get the needed victory.”
