AFCON race continues with quarters set for Wednesday

It’s serious business tonight as African Cup of Nations (AFCON) quarterfinals are set to kick start to determine which teams will advance to the semis.

Two matches will be played today as Senegal will face off Benin and the big game of the day will be Nigeria facing the South African side alias Bafana Bafana.

Here is what you need to know about today’s matches;

Senegal vs Benin

The two sides have never met before in any AFCON tournament.

Senegal is given an upper hand as favorites to win the clash. One would say they have Sadio Mane, one of the most lethal strikers with a combination of strength, skills, and agility. Who can win against you?

Benin on the other side, cannot be underrated. They have neither won nor lost a game in regular time. They are also the reason why giants like Ghana and Morocco are out of the tournament.

Their coaches had these to say during an interview;

Senegal’s coach Aliou Cisse: We should give every team its right and respect Benin. There are no small teams in Africa, the quality is very similar. While we might be favorites on paper, papers don’t decide anything.

Benin’s coach, Michel Dussuyer: Our presence at this stage is not out of luck, we worked hard and I believe in my players.

Both sides have never won the prestigious cup and will be looking forward to making history.

Nigeria vs South Africa

This is undoubtedly the biggest match of the night.

Unlike Senegal and Benin, Nigeria and South Africa have both won the cup, with Nigeria bagging home three and South Africans bagging one, that they won when they hosted the match in 1996.

This is their head to head record;

• Nigeria 2-0 South Africa, semi-final in 2000
• Nigeria 4-0 South Africa, the group stage in 2004

The Bafana Bafana beat the super eagles away in their opening match of the AFCON qualifiers in June 2017 and were held 1-1 in the return fixture.

‘‘Nigeria is one of the best teams in the tournament and it’s going to be a difficult match, “South Africa’s coach, Stuart Baxter had his opinion before the match.