• NFF to honour centurion Moses Simon

Determined to bury the ghosts of their failure to qualify for the 2026 World Cup despite playing in what looked like an easy group on paper, Super Eagles players and officials say that they will approach the qualifying games for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations as if they were cup finals.

Nigeria will begin its journey to the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations, tagged PAMOJA 2027, with a home game against Madagascar.

The game at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium, Uyo, is the first of two games set for the current FIFA window and like the 2026 World Cup qualifying series, the Super Eagles are pitted against sides (Madagascar and Guinea-Bissau) rated as minnows in African football.

In the failed bid to make the 2026 World Cup in North America, Nigeria faced Lesotho and Zimbabwe in its opening games and earned only two points after two 1-1 draws in Uyo and Kigali (Zimbabwe’s adopted home). Those four dropped points played a huge role in Nigeria’s failure to make the 2026 Mundial.

And now against sides also described as minnows, the Super Eagles say that they will not allow thunder to strike the same spot twice.

Looking forward to their first three points of the series, Super Eagles’ Head Coach, Éric Chelle, said that his team will not allow the strife and uncertainty of a late struggle that is capable of turning things on their head.

“We have to show everyone from Day One that we want it, and the only way to do that is to go for it with our hearts, and refuse to slow down at any point. We must go for the points without any hesitation,” Chelle said as he looked forward to the first two matches of the campaign against Madagascar and Guinea Bissau. The Eagles fly to Bissau on Sunday for a Day 2 encounter against the Wild Dogs slated for the 24 September Stadium on Tuesday, September 29.

Nigeria will welcome back dependable defender Ola Aina and utility youngster Benjamin Fredricks, as well as forward Taiwo Awoniyi, who has been drafted in the forced absence of Victor Osimhen.

Chelle has an interesting headache to deal with for the choice in goal, with Maduka Okoye and Stanley Nwabali both in town and super-fit, and in defence and attack. At the rear, Fredricks, Aina, Bruno Onyemaechi, Calvin Bassey, Semi Ajayi and Bright Osayi-Samuel are all good to start, not forgetting Turkey-based Chibuike Nwaiwu. At the fore, Moses Simon, Ademola Lookman, Akor Adams, Samuel Chukwueze and newboy George Ilhenikena are all in great form.

Today’s clash with the Barea will stir memories of interesting past encounters between the two countries at senior level. At this same stage, 16 years ago (commencement of an AFCON qualification race), the Super Eagles defeated the Barea 2-0 in Calabar on September 5, 2010. A year later, in the reverse fixture in Antananarivo, the Eagles won by the same margin.

However, on the last day of June 2019, the Barea caused one of the biggest upsets in AFCON history by defeating Nigeria 2-0 in a group phase match in Alexandria. Noteworthy is the fact that the Eagles had already qualified for the tournament’s Round of 16 before that encounter.

Today, both teams will battle for three crucial points at the beginning of another AFCON ticket race, with the Barea sounding off that they are ready for battle and arriving in Uyo three clear days ahead of the encounter.

CAF has picked Chadian referee Alhadji Allaou Mahamat for the Group L game slated to start at 5.00 pat.

Meanwhile, the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has said that it has concluded arrangements to honour Super Eagles’ ace forward Moses Simon, who will win his 100th cap for Nigeria at senior level if he is featured in today’s match against Madagascar.

The fleet-footed forward played his first match for the Super Eagles on March 25, 2015, and as of today, has amassed 99 caps during which he scored 12 goals.

In those 99 games, the Super Eagles won 49 times when he was involved, and drew 30 times, while 20 games were lost.

A diligent, dedicated and resilient servant of the beautiful game, Moses Simon has been involved in 64 competitive matches for Nigeria, as well as 35 friendly games. He has featured in a total of 23 matches for Nigeria at the AFCON finals, and played in 22 FIFA World Cup qualifying matches.

One of his first matches for Nigeria was the 2018 FIFA World Cup preliminary qualifying fixture against Swaziland, the return leg of which was played in Port Harcourt. After a scoreless draw in Mbabane, the Eagles needed to win to enter the real race for the qualification campaign. The match dragged towards the end before Simon scored directly from a 22-yard free-kick to set Nigeria on the path to a 2-0 win.