Former Super Eagles international Ahmed Garba has expressed confidence that Nigeria will defeat Tunisia and finish at the top of their group in the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations tournament, SportPremi reports.
The Super Eagles and the Carthage Eagles face-off at the Fez Stadium on Saturday night as both teams eye crucial win to book their spot in the knockout stages of the ongoing competition.
Nigeria enjoyed a superb start to their 2025 AFCON campaign with a comfortable 2-1 win over Tanzania last Tuesday.
The three-time African champions asserted their dominance on the clash and could have enjoyed a higher goal advantage, but were uncharacteristically wasteful in front of goal.
Semi Ajayi and Ademola Lookman were on target in the win, while Akor Adams struck the crossbar and Victor Osimhen had a second half strike ruled out for offside.
Tunisia, meanwhile, also began their campaign with a dominant win over Uganda in the other group game, running out 3-1 winners in the clash.
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The top two teams in group C will now battle each other on match-day two in a clash that could determine the group winners at the conclusion of the group stages.
Garba eyes top spot for Nigeria in group C
Ahmed Garba, who played for the Super Eagles between 1998 and 2003, believes Eric Chelle’s side were impressive against Tanzania in their opener and is expecting them to improve on that performance when they take on Tunisia.
“I understand how people felt after the first game, and they have every right to feel that way because of the quality we have in the team. When you play teams like Tanzania who set up mainly to contain the Eagles, it becomes difficult to express yourselves the way you want. That was why the game was cagey and tough, even though I expected the boys to be better”, Yaro Yaro stated.
The former Nigerian forward also reminisced the team’s defeat to the Carthage Eagles at the round of 16 stage in 2021, seeing this as an opportunity for revenge.
“Against Tunisia, the boys have to be brave and take the game to them. I remember our last meeting with Tunisia at the AFCON in Cameroon, where we won all our group games but ended up losing to them. That red card to Alex Iwobi was painful and played a big role in our defeat, even though I felt we were the better team on the day,” he added.
“I reckon the boys, especially those who were in Cameroon, will be fired up and seeking some form of revenge. I am sure it will be on their minds. I believe we will see a better performance against Tunisia, and the boys will take the three points and go top of the group,” Ahmed Garba concluded.
A win against Tunisia will book Nigeria’s spot in the knockout stages at the ongoing AFCON tournament, before they face Uganda in their final group match on the 30th.
