Nigeria will on Tuesday, August 5, begin another serious quest for a continental crown when the home-based senior men’s squad, Super Eagles B take on Cup holders Senegal in the opening match of group D of the 8th African Nations Championship.
Bronze medal-winners in 2014 and runners-up four years later, Nigeria have blown hot and cold in the 16-year-old event that is solely designated for footballers plying their trade with valid contracts in the domestic league of their countries on the continent
Ahead of the inaugural edition held by Cote d’Ivoire in 2009 and won by the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Eagles squandered a two-goal lead over arch-rivals Ghana in Accra to end up losing 2-3, and then failed to reach the back of the net in the return meeting in Calabar. Ghana qualified insteadTwo years later, Nigeria too failed to reach the finals in Sudan. In 2014, Stephen Keshi (of blessed memory)coachedtheEagles to a bronze medal finish in South Africa, recovering a 3-0 deficitat half-time against Morocco.
Nigeria failed to make it out of the group stage in Rwanda in 2016, but then went all the way to the Final in the following edition, losing to hosts Morocco on a cold night in Casablanca
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