Former captain of the Nigeria national team John Obi Mikel has warned that the Super Eagles of Nigeria must be at their best when they lock horns with Algeria in the quarterfinals of the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco, Footynaija.comreports.
Nigeria and Algeria will battle at Stade de Marrakech on Saturday, January 10 for a place in the semi-final of this year’s tournament after dispatching Mozambique and DR Congo respectively in the round of 16.
Interestingly, Nigeria and Algeria were the only teams to successfully navigate the group stage while collecting maximum points from their respective groups. This means one of these sides will have to taste defeat for the first time in the competition.
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With this in mind, Mikel, who was part of the last Super Eagles team to taste AFCON glory in 2013, has warned that Eric Chelle’s men must be ready to give their all to come out on top of what he believes will be a difficult game.
“We’ve to make sure we approach the game the right way because it is going to be a very difficult game against Algeria,” the former Chelsea midfielder said on his Obi One Podcast.
“Algeria is a very good team; they play as a team. I’ve watched them a couple of times. Algeria are very aggressive, and they’ve quality players, so the Super Eagles need to be on their A-game.”
With Saturday’s clash set to go down between two of the most in-form teams at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations and both sides likely to go all out for the win, it’s definitely shaping up to be a highly entertaining encounter in Marrakech.
