Izuchukwu Okosi
Thursday and Friday are observed as rest days in the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon with the quarterfinals matcheizs holding on Saturday and Sunday.
The tournament has seen the ouster of supposedly strong contenders for the title like Cote d’Ivoire, Nigeria and defending champions Algeria.
As the Africa Cup of Nations reaches its business end we present to you the previews of the four quarterfinal games on a weekend that sees no major club football in Europe.
GAMBIA vs CAMEROON
Brave Gambia so far has been unbeaten in the competition and are up against Cameroon in the first quarter-final.
Gambia are 100/1 favourites to win the competition and this indicates what a magnificent job they have done to reach the AFCON quarter-finals.
They have kept things simple and haven’t conceded more than one goal in any match. The hosts can expect a tough fight from the West African country.
But the physically strong Indomitable Lions of Cameroon are expected to triumph over the Gambia in the Acc
The Lions have played brilliant football in the tournament and their star striker Vincent Aboubakar is the leading goalscorer of the competition so far with six goals in four matches.
Aboubakar is set to score more having surpassed Odion Ighalo’s return of five strikes in Egypt 2019.
BURKINA FASO vs TUNISIA
No price for guessing who faithful Nigerian fans will be supporting in this one.
The Carthage Eagles of Tunisia qualified as one of the best losers in the tournament and in fact were themselves victims of a terrible refereeing decisions in the 1-0 defeat to Mali in the group stages.
The north Africans eliminated three-time African champions Nigeria by beating Austin Eguavoen’s side 1-0 in the round of 16.
Conversely, Nigeria’s Super Eagles were the only team to reach the round of 16 with maximum of nine points.
Burkina Faso who were runners up in 2013 when Nigeria won their third AFCON title are Tunisia’s opponents in the second quarterfinals clash on Saturday night at 8pm Nigerian time.
Burkina Faso reached this stage with just one outright win in the group stage. They went on to beat Gabon in the penalty shootout in the round of 16.
EGYPT vs MOROCCO
It had to be Liverpool’s Mohamad Salah who scored the decisive penalty to take Egypt to the AFCON quarter-finals.
His team will battle Morocco for the chance to reach the last four of the tournament in a North African derby.
Morocco have been decent in the tournament so far and their star player Achraf Hakimi helped them qualify for the AFCON quarter-finals with a winner against Malawi from a stunning free kick.
This promises to be the clash of the quarter-finals as two quality teams go head-on.
SENEGAL vs EQUATORIAL GUINEA
Deputy African champions Senegal take on arguably the most impressive team of the competition, Equatorial Guinea.
Talking about odds, Equatorial Guinea were 500/1 favourites to win the competition.
Senegal are unbeaten in the competition and are looking solid for going all the way this time around.
They have minnows Equatorial Guinea in front of them and should prove too strong for the Central African country.
Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
In October 2004, Okosi joined Complete Communications Limited, publishers of Complete Sports newspaper and Complete Football magazine as a reporter and later script writer for the Complete Sports studio.
He worked there for 13 years until October 2017.
Okosi also worked various times as Correspondent, Content creator and Editor at Sports Market International Magazine, Opera News, All Nigeria Soccer Media and Iconic Media Watch.
He also undertook freelance writing gigs for some local and international organizations.
Okosi is a member of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), Association of Movie Producers (AMP), Association of Voiceover Artistes of Nigeria (AVOA), Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) and Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ).
He has been part of cast in some Nollywood movies and radio dramas including Blood Money 2, Scores To Settle, Dead End 2, Another Campus Tale and Battle Line.
Aside mainstream media and the entertainment industry, he has interests in scouting/unearthing of talents in the sports and creative sectors, exports business and property development.
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