Nigeria and Malawi will meet in Calabar on Saturday, with the winner guaranteeing a spot in spherical three of the CAF qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup.
The present African Cup of Nations champions are two factors away from second-placed Malawi in Group F and only a level could be adequate for Stephen Keshi’s males to qualify for the play-off spherical.
However, like Nigeria, Malawi are additionally unbeaten up to now in qualification and have conceded simply three targets of their final 4 group video games.
The final time the edges met, the sport was drawn 1-1 thanks to 2 targets within the dying embers of the match.
Azubuike Egwuekwe put Nigeria forward after 89 minutes earlier than John Banda grabbed an unlikely equaliser on the loss of life.
As nicely as deciding whether or not or not Nigeria will attain their fifth World Cup from the final six, the conflict additionally pairs Keshi with Malawi boss Tom Saintfiet.
The two males have
Keshi, described his reverse quantity on Saturday as “mad” and “crazy” earlier than stating: "He is just not an African particular person, he's a white dude, he ought to return to Belgium."
In response, the Malawi Football Association formally reported the matter to FIFA, describing the remarks as “racist” and “not acceptable”.
Saintfiet informed BBC Sport he was “shocked” by the feedback, including: "These phrases create hate and aggression, and creates a danger forward of the match in Calabar."
While the stress between the 2 managers seems to have calmed in current weeks, each might be decided to come back out on high this Saturday.
Malawi, who has by no means reached the FIFA World Cup finals earlier than, suffered a setback by shedding 1-Zero to Bostwana in a pleasant on Tuesday.
However, Saintfiet confirmed he isn't overly nervous by the defeat, and desires his facet centered on the three factors that will put Malawi inside one tie of Brazil.
"I’m glad that the sport towards Botswana has helped us to arrange as a result of (with) a number of the gamers it was my first time to see them," he informed the Malawi FA web site.