Nigeria vs South Africa Preview

Nigeria will be looking to mark their return to the African Cup of Nations by winning this edition and they showed in their last game that they have what it takes to go all the way.

South Africa will be looking to build on their unlikely elimination of the hosts Egypt by pulling off another win to eliminate Nigeria in this game.

Nigeria have failed to appear in a Nations Cup since they won the 2013 edition.  A lot of changes has happened to the Super Eagles set up since that time, but they come here as one of the best teams in the continent with some exciting young talents.

Nigeria have taken some time to find the goals necessary but they seem to improve as the competition progresses.  What they need to do here is to watch out for complacency as they are expected to come out on top.

South Africa would have returned home after the group stages in previous editions of this competition as they finished 3rd in their group behind Morocco and Ivory Coast, but they have proved that this new format is a good one for themselves.

While they lack in the talents that Nigeria boast of, they more than make up for it with a steely determination not to be failures at this competition and that could help them shock Nigeria in this game.

Bookmakers have priced Nigeria up as steady favourites to come out on top in this game while South Africa will begin yet another game as underdogs.