THIRTY-EIGHT years ago, Emmanuel Okala was in goal when the then Green Eagles beat Guinea's national team in the final to win the football gold of the second All Africa Games held in Lagos. Though football in the continent has gone scientific unlike the 'kick and follow' pattern of those days, Okala, who is the first Nigerian to win the African Footballer of the Year award in 1978, says the Guineans are dangerous customers any day, especially when they have a date to keep with Nigeria. In this chat with GOWON AKPODONOR, who is in Abuja for today's all important 2012 Nations Cup qualifier between the two teams, the Enugu Rangers former goalie cautioned Coach Samson Siasia and the Joseph Yobo-captained Super Eagles not to allow the visitors play their usual tricky game because, according to Okala, such tricks might land the Eagles in serious trouble.'The fact that the Super Eagles do not come face to face with Guinea so often on the field of play is enough for our boys to be very careful in this particular match. We cannot afford to sit at home and watch other teams participate in the 2012 African Nations Cup without our dear Super Eagles in attendance. So, my advise is for our players not to allow Guinea play its usual tricky game on Saturday.'They are known for their style of trying to walk the ball into their opponents' goal. It worked for them for several years and we must not allow that to happen in Abuja on Saturday (today),' Okala cautioned the Super Eagles while chatting with the Guardian on Wednesday.The Syli Stars, under the guidance of Coach Michel Dussuyer have 13 points to lead Group B, three points more than Super Eagles, who need to win today's cracker by 1-0 or two clear goals to finish as group winners and book a place in next year's championship to be jointly staged by Gabon and Equatorial Guinea.For Okala, the Super Eagles would be doing themselves a great damage if they approach today's match with a lackadaisical attitude, saying: 'They must be ready to go for early goals to unsettle whatever tactical approach the Guineans planned for the game. For them (Guinea) to be topping the group ahead of Nigeria attest to the fact that they are well armed. Nigerian fans like good football, that I know. By the time they (fans) see the Guineans doing their good dribble and trying to walk the ball into our net, they may be forced to cheer the opponents and that would not be good for us. So, to avoid that situation, our boys must be ready to put in 110 percent effort into the game. They (Super Eagles) must come up with something special to unsettle Guinea. As I suggested earlier, an early goal will do the job for Nigeria.'Before Okala and his teammates, among who were Tony Igwe, Morton Owolo, Victor Oduah, Sanni Mohammed, Yakubu Mambo, Sunny Oyarekhua and the late Haruna Ilerika won the All Africa Games soccer gold (2-0) at the expense of Guinea in 1973, Nigeria had rode on the back of Guinean to reach her first-ever African Cup of Nations finals 10 years earlier in 1963. In the first ever clash between both nations at senior level, the Guineans tied the first leg of the qualifying race with Nigeria 2-2 in Lagos in 1963 and then presumed they had won the fixture after winning the return leg 1-0 in Conakry on 0ctober 6 of the same year.But the Confederation of African Football threw Guinea out of the race after it discovered a Guinean had been centre referee of the return leg, thus paving the way for Nigeria to qualify for her first African Nations Cup finals by default.In 1976, Okala had another encounter with the Guineans, this time in an African Cup of Nation's match in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Nigeria had defeated the then Congo Democratic Republic 3-1 goals aggregate to qualify for the competition. In Ethiopia, the Eagles won their first two games in Group B, defeating Zaire (4-2) and Sudan (1-0) only to lose to Morocco (1-3). Those were the first phrase of matches involving the teams. In the second phrase of matches, which Nigeria began with a tie against Guinea, the Eagles could only manage a 1-1 draw and went on to lose to Morocco (1-2) a second time in the competition. The 3-2 victory over the Pharaohs of Egypt in the last game could only take Nigeria to the third position in the final classification behind Guinea, which finished second, while the Atlas Lions of Morocco won the trophy.It took another 15 years before Nigeria and Guinea would come face to face in the African Nations Cup battle, this time in the build up to Algiers '90, where the Super Eagles team was paired against Guinea in the first round. A 1-1 draw in Conakry and a 3-0 victory in Ibadan gave Nigeria a second round ticket against Zimbabwe, which the Eagles also defeated on 4-1 aggregate to march on.That was the era of Dutchman, Clemens Westerhof, who had just taken over the coaching job of the Super Eagles.In the qualification for the FIFA World Cup at the senior level, Nigeria and Guinea have met on a few occasions with the Eagles having the upper hand. In the build up to the 1982 World Cup, both countries were paired in the third round of the qualifiers. A 1-1 draw away and 1-0 victory courtesy a late Henry Nwosu scorcher in Lagos qualified the Eagles for the final round where Nigeria was eliminated by the Desert Warriors of Algeria.The Eagles and Syli Stars met again in a World Cup qualifier enroute France '98' in Lagos, where Abuobacar Titi Camara, who is now Guinea's Sports Minister and leader of the country's delegation to today's game in Abuja, scored a goal, but the coach Philippe Troussier tutored side fought hard to win the encounter 2-1. Nigeria lost the return leg 0-1 in Guinea, but then, the Eagles had already booked a place in France before the game.This time around, the Guineans say they are ready to turn things around in their favour. The country defeated Nigeria 1-0 when they met in October last in the first leg of the on-going race for Gabon and Equatorial Guinea.The 32-man Guinean contingent arrived Abuja on Thursday boasting that they were in Nigeria for the Nations Cup ticket and not as tourists. The team's handler, Frenchman Michel Dussuyer, had said during their training tour in France, that his boys would give coach Samson Siasia and Nigerians a 'big surprise.'Dussuyer said his technical crew had taken time to study Nigeria's pattern of play in the past few weeks, adding that he was not losing sleep over the match.He insisted that the Super Eagles was beatable in Abuja, saying: 'We have studied the team in and out and my conclusion is that the Nigerian team is beatable and we are going to do just that. I have players who can deliver it and I don't have any fear in mind. The Eagles are the ones under serious pressure to go top of the group, but we won't allow that to happen. We are going to shock the Eagles and their supporters in Abuja.'The Syli Stars is parading a squad made of mostly foreign-based stars. Among the players are Aboubacar Camara, Naby Yattara, Thierno Bah, Dian Bobo Balde, Ibrahima Bangoura, Morlaye Cisse, Boubacar Diallo, Ibrahima Diallo, Kamil Zayatte, Mamadou Bah, Habib Balde, Kevin Constant, Sadio Diallo, Pascal Feindouno, Mohamed Sacko, Alhassane Bangoura, Ismael Bangoura, Ibrahima Conte, Ibrahima Traore and Ibrahima Yattara.Today's match in Abuja will kick off at 2pm, a timing by CAF most Nigerians are not comfortable with going by a similar timing in 2005, when Nigeria was knocked off the road to Germany 2006 World Cup by Angola in Kano.But Super Eagles Coach, Samson Siasia, does not see anything bad in the timing. Rather, his major concern for now is how the team will get the needed support to topple the visiting Guineans.Siasia appealed to Nigerians during the week to turn out in large numbers at the National Stadium, Abuja today to support the Eagles. He said that capacity crowd cheering his boys on could only create the right atmosphere.He said: 'We want our people to come and create the correct atmosphere at the stadium, the singing and dancing, and the whole works. We want the place bright with sea of green and white colours and everyone cheering every move of the Super Eagles.'Support is always key in games of this nature. And we believe that Nigerians from everywhere will come to the Stadium and cheer Super Eagles to victory.'Nigeria has never failed to qualify for the African Cup of Nations since failing at the final qualifying hurdle against Zambia in a 0-1 aggregate defeat in 1985.Also, Tunisia is the only team to have escaped unhurt against the Super Eagles in a competitive match at the National Stadium, Abuja, when it forced the Eagles to a 2-2 draw in a 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying match 25 months ago.
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