Guinea U23 Vs Nigeria U23: Match Preview for make or mar U-23 AFCON qualification hurdle

Nigeria U-23 Eagles will face Guinea in the second leg of the Africa U-23 Cup of Nations qualifier on Tuesday March 28, 2023. SportsRation presents a preview of the make or mar final qualification hurdle for both countries.

MATCH DETAILS 

Fixture: Guinea U-23 Vs Nigeria U-23

Purpose: Africa U-23 Cup of Nations qualifier [ Third round 2nd leg ]

Date: Tuesday March 28, 2023

Kick-off: 7pm [ Nigerian Time ]

Venue:  Prince Moulay Al Hassan in Rabat, Morocco

AGGREGATE SCORE: The first leg ended 0-0 in Nigeria on Wednesday March 22, 2023. So the second leg will get underway with a 0-0 aggregate score.

HEAD-TO-HEAD

The first-leg in Abuja was the first ever meeting between Guinea and Nigeria at U-23 level. The goalless draw leaves their head to head stat even. W0 D1 L0.

WHAT HAPPENS IF THE SECOND LEG ENDS IN A DRAW

According to CAF regulations, qualification ties are played on a home-and-away, two-legged basis. If the aggregate score is tied after the second leg, away goals rule was applied, and if still tied, the game goes straight to penalty shoot-out to determine the winner.

Therefore, if the Guinea vs NIgeria match end 0-0, penalties will be required to determine a winner. If it ends in any other score draw i.e 1-1, 2-2 etc, Nigeria wins based on the away goal rule.

WHAT HAS BEEN SAID 

-Coach Salisu Yusuf of Nigeria

“The players know that reaching the Africa Cup of Nations presents them a tremendous opportunity to fight hard for a ticket to the Olympics, which is a global tournament.

“We believe they can help us stake a very strong claim to the ticket, and we will be aiming for a good win. The second leg is on neutral ground, but we don’t want to entertain that in our minds. We have the objective of working assiduously to wrap up things.”

– Coach Morlaye Cisse of Guinea

“A very positive and somewhat bitter analysis given the number of chances we had in this match. Not punishing them remains a taste of unfinished business,” he told Feguifoot.com.

“But, I am very happy with the boys on the commitment, the motivation and the state of mind that they put on this match. I hope we will be able to reproduce the same thing for the return match.”

TEAM NEWS 

No Injury cases have been reported by both team as of the time of this preview. Guinea U-23 Coach Morlayie Cisse has beefed up his squad from the first leg with the invitation of AJ Auxere striker Madious Keita.

Nigeria will be without suspended Christopher Nwaeze following his red card in the first leg in Abuja.

SUMMARY 

The winner of this game will qualify for the Africa U-23 Cup of Nations scheduled to hold in Morocco between 24 June and 8 July 2023.

The U-23 AFCON serves as qualification path to the next Olympics. The top three teams will automatically qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympics. While the team that finishes 4th will play in the AFC–CAF playoffs to decide the final slot at the Olympics.

SPORTSRATION SAYS 

The game will be played in a neutral location thus giving both teams a fair chance. Despite the disappointing first leg performance, expect Nigeria to fight hard to avoid the embarrassment of missing the U-23 AFCON and by extension a chance to qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympic games.