Ivory Coast Vs Nigeria 2023 AFCON Final: Osayi-Samuel Tells Eagles What To Do, Haller Talks Tough

Super Eagles of Nigeria defender, Bright Osayi-Samuel has urged his teammates to look for how to hurt Ivory Coast in the 2023 AFCON final.

The Super Eagles of Nigeria and Ivory Coast will meet for the second time in the 2023 AFCON at 9 p.m. on Sunday, February 11.

In their previous meeting which was in the group stage, the Super Eagles stunned them 1-0 in front of their home fans. But their second meeting on Sunday is expected to be more intense since it is the final of the 2023 AFCON.

Hence, Osayi-Samuel who started the 2023 AFCON semi-final clash against South Africa in place of injured Zaidu Sanusi and was able to help Nigeria knockout Bafana Bafana via penalties, believes that Eagles stand a chance if the players focus on themselves.

“If you look around the group [Super Eagles] everyone is confident, everyone is looking forward to the game, me myself”, the fenerbahçe defender said.

“They have got good players but like I said if we focus on ourselves, look at what we can do and how we can hurt them, then I think we have a very good chance of winning the game.”

Though Osayi-Samuel gave a very fair account of himself in the semi-final game against South Africa, he is not expected to start the final on Sunday if Zaidu Sanusi is fully fit. The Porto wingback has returned to full training on Friday.

Meanwhile, Cote d’Ivoire forward, Sebastien Haller who scored his team’s lone goal in their semi-final win over DR Congo, believes that the 2023 AFCON final is different from the group stage of the tournament.

Hence, he believes that his team will give the Super Eagles a different game at 9 p.m . on Sunday.

“It’s an advantage to both Nigeria and Côte d’Ivoire because we faced each other in the group stage so we know each other well,” the Borussia Dortmund striker said.

“However, the approach to a knock-out game will be different from a group stage game.”