Salah hopeful ahead of Nigeria v Egypt in AFCON 2021

Ahead of Nigeria versus Egypt showdown, pressure mounts in both squads.

The two group D teams will face each other in the Roumdé Adjia stadium of Garoua, on Tuesday, January 11. The Pharaohs who landed in Cameroon on Saturday are ready to start their tournament. Their captain and Liverpool superstar, Mohamed Salah, gauged his team chances and expanded on their ambition and hopes: "I think they(Nigeria) are a dangerous team. [...] I don't think we are the first candidate for (to win) this tournament, but we do our best to win it. We have a good coach, a good team, a very good group ..."

Egypt won the AFCON 7 times and in comparison Nigeria only lifted the cup on three occasions but Nigerians are currently nine places (36) above Egypt (45) in FIFA's Rankings.

Ahmed Musa, the captain of the Super Eagles is also optimistic: "We consider that we are ready, and we are just waiting for tomorrow and hopefully we are going to end up until the final and win the cup..."

The squad started its training session in Cameroon last Thursday. The last time both teams played each other, the advantage went to Nigeria. Who will get the upper hand this time? Fans have to wait on Thursday 4PM GMT as the match kicks off.