Kenneth Omeruo is confident the Super Eagles will get the better of Cameroon in their 2023 Africa Cup of Nations Round of 16 contest.
Jose Peseiro’s men and the Indomitable Lions will clash at the Felix Houphouet Boigny Stadium, Abidjan on Saturday night.
The winner is guaranteed a place in the quarter-finals.
Omeruo claimed the Super Eagles are ready for the task ahead.
“Cameroon is a familiar AFCON opponent for us. We have played against them seven times before in the AFCON,” the Kasimpasa defender told NFF TV.
“We are focused on our preparation. We believe in the coaches to provide us with
with the right tactics to beat them.
“We are confident, after the last game, we resolved that we are ready to face any opponent. We just have to stick to our game plan and work hard on the pitch.”
3 Comments
We’ve met Cameroon 25 times.
Beaten them 12 times, drawn 8 times. Cameroon have won only 5 times.
Out of these wins, 3 were in Afcon finals!
So although Nigeria has a significant lead in the head to head stats, Nigeria has also conceded a total of 3 Afcon trophies to the Cameroon trophy cabinet.
The 4th Cameroon win was also in a high stakes game. A world cup qualifier in 1990. Nigeria needed a draw to qualify. Cameroon won.
These 4 losses to Cameroon were against their legendary team of the 1980s and early 1990s, arguably their best ever assemblage of talents, with names like Makanaky, Milla, Kunde, the Biyick brothers, Tattaw, Ekeke, Abega, Antoine Bell, and so on. These were household names in African football back then.
2 of Nigeria’s Afcon losses was at the hands of these Cameroon team.
Before their 1984 win in the Afcon final, Cameroon had failed to beat Nigeria in 9 attempts. But after that win, in the next 5 games, they won 3, drew 1 and lost 1. The only time Nigeria beat them in this golden period of Cameroon football was the 2-0 win in Ibadan, thanks to goals from Keshi and Siasia.
Outside this golden generation, they have beaten us twice. One was AGAIN in an Afcon final in 2000, their 3rd Afcon trophy snatched from Nigeria. The other was a recent friendly in 2021.
That is the only time they’ve beaten Nigeria in a game that is not high stakes.
In recent times, Nigeria has had the upper hand in this matchup. In a 2015 friendly, Oliseh led his team to a 3 nil trouncing of the Indomitable Lions. And then along came Gernot Rohr, and he absolutely devastated them, inflicting deep wounds.
On Saturday, 27th January, the rivalry resumes. Cameroon will want their 6th win over Nigeria. But Peseiro and company do not want to pack their bags this early.
An explosive clash awaits us.
That “win” at Afcon’2000 finals was officially a draw, Penalty shootout wins are officially recorded as Draws.
Yeah, the game ended in a 2-2 draw after extra time, but both sides were playing for the trophy, and Cameroon grabbed it via penalty kicks.
So it looks like a win for them. It is what it is.