The Super Eagles of Nigeria will now jostle it out with the Desert foxes of Algeria in October in Austria next month after their opponents Cote d’Ivoire withdrew from the match.
The Ivorian National team cited Internal wranglings in their FA as the reason for the withdrawal. after a letter was sent to the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to that effect.
Algeria immediately accepted to lock horns with three-time African champions Nigeria on 9th October at the Jacques Lemans Arena in Austria after a phone call from President of the NFF, Mr. Amaju Melvin Pinnick to his Algerian opposite number, Mr. Kheireddine Zetchi.
The clash in Austria next month would be the fourth between the Super Eagles and the reigning African Champions, Algeria in three years. Both teams were in the same Group for the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, with the Eagles trouncing the Fennecs 3-1 in Uyo before a 1-1 draw in Constantine that mattered little as Nigeria already booked a ticket to Russia before that final-day encounter.
The two teams met again in the semis of last year’s African Cup of Nations in Egypt, with the Fennecs edging it 2-1 from a free-kick just outside the box at the death, and then going on to defeat Senegal in the final to clinch their second continental title.
