Cameroon duo Vincent Aboubakar and Clinton Njie are back in full training for the Indomitable Lions ahead of Saturday’s Africa Cup of Nations round of 16 clash against Nigeria at the Felix Houphouet Boigny Stadium, Abidjan, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.
Both players have been recovering from injuries before the start of the tournament but coach Rigobert Song has kept faith in them, leaving them out of the group stage.
The Cameroonian Football Federation announced the return of both players via their Facebook page on Thursday.
“The return to collective training of Vincent Aboubakar and Clinton Njie, now available for the rest of the competition.”
The Indomitable Lions have struggled in the absence of both players, but they managed to qualify in second-place in Group C, just as Nigeria did in Group A. However, Cameroon needed a hard-fought 3-2 win over Gambia on Tuesday to book their place in the round of 16 with four points.
Aboubakar and Njie were members of the Cameroon squad that won the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations and have scored against Nigeria in the past.
N’Jie scored their second goal in Nigeria’s 3-2 win over them during the 2019 AFCON round of 16 clash at the Alexandria Stadium in Egypt and Aboubakar netted in a World Cup qualifier in Yaounde in 2017.
Nigerians were, however, unfazed by the return of the two players.
“Won’t change the fact that we’ll beat them,” a fan Yinka Ade wrote.
“We got Bassey and Ekong to deal with him,” Dipo Mick also added.
Bobby-Ray Ukaigwe also advised the Eagles to avoid aerial balls against the Cameroonians.
“No problem, just cut the crosses and avoid set pieces close to the 18-yard box, that’s their only source of goals.”
Nigeria and Cameroon have met seven times at the AFCON, with each team winning three games each while the other one ended in a draw.
After Cameroon beat Nigeria to the 1984, 1988 and 2000 finals, the Super Eagles won in 1992, 2004 and 2019. The drawn game was during the group stages in 1988.
