Preview Nigeria vs South Africa - African Nations Cup

African Nations Cup - Nigeria vs South Africa
Match Time: 08-02-2024 00:00 Thursday (GMT+7)
Football Livescore | Match Prediction & Tips
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Nigeria will be targeting their first appearance in the Africa Cup of Nations final since 2013 as they battle South Africa in the semi-final on Wednesday. Driven by a solid defence, the three-time champions have been imperious in the competition and should have the upper hand in this one.

A 1-0 victory over Angola was enough to see Nigeria progress to the semi-final of the AFCON. They were made to work hard by the Angolans with Ademola Lookman’s second half effort proving the difference.

It has been an impressive AFCON campaign for Nigeria as they are yet to taste defeat after five matches. Since playing out a1-1 draw with Equatorial Guinea in their opening fixture, the Super Eagles have not looked back, winning every match so far to reach the last four.

Although they tend to miss goalscoring opportunities, Nigeria have managed to find the net in every game so far. Manager Jose Peseiro also appears to have gotten his defensive set up spot on as they have conceded just once in the competition and kept clean sheets in their last four matches.

South Africa needed penalties before seeing off Cape Verde in the quarter-finals. After battling to a drab 0-0 draw, they triumphed 2-1 in the shootout with goalkeeper Ronwen Williams, saving four penalties.

It has also been a decent AFCON campaign for South Africa, who are yet to taste defeat since their opening fixture. However, unlike the Super Eagles, they have picked up just two regulation time wins, playing out a 0-0 draw with Tunisia in their final group game before the similar result in the quarter-finals.

One similarity with Nigeria is that South Africa have also kept clean sheets in their last four matches. However, they have failed to score in three of their five matches in the competition.

Picks: Nigeria win