Nigeria vs E’Guinea: Old foes renew rivalry in must-win Women’s AFCON tie

The Super Falcons and their Equatorial Guinea counterparts have a rich history of fiery contests, incredible wins and painful losses between them.

Past fixtures between both sides have delivered great entertainment and memorable goals.

Equatorial Guinea were responsible for the ouster of Nigeria in the semi-final of the 2008 Africa Women’s Cup of Nations (AWCON).

They pipped the Falcons 1-0 thanks to Genoveva Añonma’s 58th minute strike and went on to lift the trophy, thus ending Nigeria’s five-tournament dominance of women’s football showpiece.

Two years later in South Africa, the Falcons defeated Nzalang Nacional 4-2 to emerge as champions of the tournament.

Desire Oparanozie, Onome Ebi, Faith Michael, Francisca Ordega and Rita Chikwelu are the surviving members of the 2010 squad.

Both teams have not clashed at the AWCON since then, but they faced off at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games qualifiers, where the Nzalang Nacional bundled out the Falcons.

At the ongoing AWCON in Ghana, Equatorial Guinea are the whipping team despite the presence of Añonma, Jade Soyo, Blessing Diala and Chinaza Okoro.

The Nzalang Nacional lost 5-0 to Zambia and were at the receiving end of a 7-1 thumping by South Africa in their second game.

For Nigeria, it has been a bag of mixed fortunes in Ghana. The Falcons lost 1-0 to South Africa but bounced back with a 4-0 rout of Zambia.

Mathematically, Equatorial Guinea still have a chance of qualifying from Group B if they beat Nigeria by at least 14-0 and hope Zambia suffer at least a two-goal defeat to South Africa.

Nigeria, meanwhile, simply have to win to guarantee easy qualification for the next round of the tournament.

On Saturday, the Nzalang Nacional and Falcons will reignite their rivalry with a lot at stake.