Omolosho Fatai
In the ongoing 2021 Africa Cup of Nations, Super Eagles will play Tunisia in the round of 16 at the Roumdé Adjia Stadium in Garoua, on Sunday.
2004 African champions, Tunisia occupied third in Group F behind Mali after losing 1-0 to Gambia on Thursday in their final group stage encounter, qualifying to the round of 16 as best loser with three points.
Tunisia only secured their first and only winning against Mauritania who never won a single point in Group F.
The North Africa country is a well known opponent of Nigeria. Nigeria defeated Tunisia 1-0 in the third-place match of the 2019 tournament in Egypt.
Three times Africa Cup of Nation Champions had played against Tunisia 20 times, with both countries recording six wins apiece while eight games ended in draw. The last time Eagles lost to the North African was in 2004 AFCON semi-final match, which ended 1-1 during regulation time with Tunisians won 5-3 on penalties.
Meanwhile, Nigerian business mogul, Femi Otedola has promised to gift Super Eagles sum of N102,895,000 if they win the Africa Cup of Nations for Nigeria.
The Super Eagles will also receive N49,389,600 from Coalition Against COVID-19 for the six goals they registered in the group stage.
CACOVID, a private sector-led platform build to help government in fighting Coronavirus in the country, commended eagles for their excellent performance at the AFCON and pledged to gift the squad $20,000 for each goal scored in the group stage.
According to Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, who represented CACOVID during a visit to the team’s camp in Cameroon, their impressive group stage performance convinced CACOVID to increase the amount for every goal scored to $50,000 in the round of 16.
“I came with a message from the CACOVID. The CACOVID is the coalition of private-sector companies that was set up to fight COVID-19 in Nigeria and they have been happy with the performance of the team,” Emefiele said in a video posted by the Eagles media department on Thursday.
“During the meeting, I had with the captain (Ahmed Musa) and the coach (Austin Eguavoen), I delivered a message from CACOVID and the message is that, for every goal that is scored, the team will receive the naira equivalent of $20,000 so far, you have earned for yourself the naira equivalent of $120,000.
“We held a CACOVID meeting again because everyone is overjoyed for everything you’ve done so far, CACOVID has asked me to raise the ante.
“From the round of 16, for every goal scored, you will earn for yourselves as a team the naira equivalent of $50,000.
“Also, Femi Otedola, who is a member of CACOVID, has asked me to tell you that if you lift the trophy, he has in the bank for you, the naira equivalent of $250,000. This is just the beginning and I can assure you that if you win your round of 16 games, another promise might be made,” he said.
