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Nigeria, Cape Verde to battle for Group C top spot

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Nigeria will be targeting nothing but a win when they host Cape Verde in a 2022 Fifa World Cup qualification Group C match at the Teslim Balogun Stadium in Lagos on Tuesday.

Kick-off is at 6pm CAT.

The Super Eagles kept their qualifying campaign on track when they brushed aside Liberia 2-0 away on Saturday in what was their penultimate match in Group C.

 

The West African giants are sitting at the top of the group standings – two points above second-placed Cape Verde. The winner of this encounter will advance to the third round of qualifying as Group C winners.

Gernot Rohr, the Nigeria head coach, feels that his side need to improve their attacking play ahead of the match against the Blue Sharks after scoring twice from the penalty spot in their win over Liberia.

“We are happy with the victory because we knew it was going to be a tough game,” Rohr said in the post-match reaction following the win over Liberia.

“We got two penalties but we were not able to score a goal from open play. If you ask me, though, I think those two penalties were very clear but I would always prefer to score from open play.

“I admit that we really need to work on our attacking play, there is still a lot of work to do.”

Meanwhile, Cape Verde continued their good form in Group C when they edged out the Central African Republic (CAR) 2-1 at home on Saturday.

The victory boosted the Blue Sharks’ hopes of progressing to the next round of qualifying and they come into their clash with Nigeria in great form having won three games in a row.

Marco Soares, the Cape Verde captain, made it known that they will do everything from the first minute to make Cape Verdeans proud of the Blue Sharks when they take on the Super Eagles.

“We know that we have to go to Nigeria to win the game, as we do in every game, and it won’t be any different there,” Soares said after the clash against CAR.

“We will do everything from the first minute to make Cape Verdeans proud of their team. I want to emphasise once again the spirit of this group and highlight Ryan [Mendes], who, despite the pain, continued to play for a cause that is Cape Verde [against CAR] and we all deserve congratulations.”

Nigeria will host Cape Verde for the first time with their reverse Group C fixture having ended in a 2-1 victory in favour of the Super Eagles in Mindelo in September this year.

 

 

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