Group B of the Confederations Cup in Brazil was wide open following Uruguay’s 2-1 win over the Super Eagles at the Arena Fonte Nova in Salvador, Bahia on Thursday.
Stephen Keshi and his team know that they have a mountain to climb against the tiki-taka-playing Spaniards at the Estadio Castelao in Fortaleza. Spain has been in cruise control of Group B after two wins out of two including the 10-0 mauling of minnows, Tahiti.
Vincent del Bosque’s men have not lost a competitive game since their 0-1 loss to Switzerland at the 2010 FIFA World Cup while the African champions just had their 18-match unbeaten run truncated by Uruguay bringing to an end a 13-month streak.
Keshi will lead his men into this tie with two of his key players, Nnamdi Oduamadi and Ahmed Musa, doubtful.
Both players suffered knocks in the loss to Uruguay, though Musa could still feature in the tie while Oduamadi has a 50-50 chance of making the squad for the match.
But Spain could recall the core of their first-team players that includes the like of Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Cesc Fabregas, Roberto Soldado and Iker Casillas.
Nigeria has a mathematical chance of reaching the last four but will have to beat Spain to give them that chance.
However, the odds are heavily stacked against the African champions, though they will draw inspiration from their predecessors in 1998 which stunned Spain 3-2 at the FIFA World Cup in France – the only head-to-head meeting between both nations at the senior level in competitive football.
In January this year, the Super Eagles played against Catalonia in a friendly that ended 1-1, but Spain will offer a different opposition when the game gets underway from 8p.m. Nigeria time on Sunday.
