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By Johnny Edward
One of the greatest rivalries in African football will be renewed on Wednesday at the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast when Nigeria play South Africa in the semi-finals at the Stade de la Paix in Bouake, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.
Bafana Bafana overcame Cape Verde 2-1 on penalties after 120 minutes of football at the Charles Konan Banny Stadium, Yamoussoukro produced no goals on Saturday night, to set up the epic clash against the Super Eagles.
It will be the 15th encounter between both teams across all competitions and their third at the AFCON tournament.
Overall, Nigeria lead with seven victories, two losses and five draws.
At the AFCON tournament, the Eagles have won all three games against their bitter rivals, defeating Bafana Bafana 2-0 in the semi-finals of the 2000 edition of the tournament in Lagos, before trouncing the ‘Rainbow Nation’ 4-0 at the 2004 edition in Monastir, Tunisia.
The Eagles, under German Gernot Rohr at the 2019 edition in Egypt, edged South Africa 2-1 in the quarter-finals and will look to maintain their dominance over Hugo Broos’ side at this year’s edition of the tournament.
The Eagles started off their quest for a fourth AFCON title with a 1-1 draw with Equatorial Guinea in their opening group game before recording 1-0 wins over hosts Ivory Coast and Guinea-Bissau in their remaining fixtures to finish second in Group A.
They beat Cameroon 2-0 in their round of 16 clash, thanks to a brace from winger Ademola Lookman. The Atalanta man’s solitary strike against Angola in the last eight also sent Jose Peseiro’s men through to the last four of the tournament.
Reacting to the tie, Eagles goalkeeper, Stanley Nwabali, who has kept four consecutive clean sheets at the tournament said, “I want to play against South Africa.”
Nwabali plies his trade in the Premier Soccer League in South Africa with Chippa United, where he has kept seven clean sheets in 15 games, conceding 14 goals.
“I really wish to see how my defence will fare against them. Yes, most of their players know me and I also know them.”
Interestingly, South Africa have conceded just once in four AFCON matches, scoring six goals in the process.
They will also aim to reach the final of the tournament for the fist time since 1996 when they won it on home soil.