Drogba: Cote d’Ivoire ready for Super Eagles challenge in Group A

Ivorian legend Didier Drogba says his country will be ready for the Super Eagles challenge when both sides meet in the second Group A game of the African Nations Cup in January in Abidjan.

Nigeria is drawn against the host, Cote d’Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea and Guinea-Bissau

Drogba, Cote d’Ivoire’s all-time leading scorer, said playing Nigeria promises to be a thrilling early test for the tournament hosts.

“It is a very difficult group. Nigeria is of course one of the favourites and to have them in our group, it is going to be an exciting challenge,” said Drogba.

“But we are up for it. This is the beauty of a competition like AFCON, so we are ready to take on the challenge and let the best teams of this group and all the groups qualify.”

Nigeria and Cote d’Ivoire have met six times in the history of the tournament with the Super Eagles winning thrice and drawing once while next year’s host have won twice.

Interestingly, Nigeria were unbeaten in the games they played in the years they won the African Nations Cup viz in 1980 in Lagos, 1994 in Tunisia and 2013 in South Africa.