Playing against Cote d’Ivoire does not come easy, according to former Nigeria international Dimeji Lawal who hopes Gernot Rohr’s men avoid the Elephants in Tuesday’s Africa Cup of Nations draw.
Having been seeded in Pot 1 alongside hosts Cameroon and defending champions Algeria, the Super Eagles could face Patrice Beaumelle’s men, Ghana, Egypt or Mali as Caf will see the 24 participating teams assembled into six groups of four teams each.
In the history of the competition, Nigeria have met Cote d’Ivoire on six occasions: winning twice, losing twice and settling for a draw two times.
As attention shifts to the Yaounde Conference Centre where the ceremony will be held on Tuesday evening, the retired midfielder talked about why the three-time African kings must strive to avoid meeting the 2015 Afcon champions.
“I’m glad we are not going to be zoned against teams like Senegal and Cameroon but you know that football has changed globally, and you have to beat the best to become the best,” Lawal told Goal.
“Whichever team that is pair with us, we need to be very careful and we must prepare well. During preparations and in the tournament proper, we must not give room for complacency.
“However, I don’t like us playing Cote d’Ivoire because they are as strong as we are and due to the agelong rivalry between us, they like to flex their muscles against us – the same thing as Ghana.
“Also, the Ivorians have their key players well represented in Europe just like us. We have similar climates, so basically, we don’t have any advantage over them when it comes to playing them.
“Playing against them doesn’t come easy. I would prefer us to be group with the Egyptians or any North African team because we can always outmuscle them physically.”
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Regardless of who Nigeria will be facing in the preliminary round, the ex-Real Madrid and Kortrijk star counsels on what Rohr and his team must do if they hope to rule Africa the fourth time.
“Every nation that understands what football means now knows that good preparation is key to achieving success,” he continued.
“The Super Eagles must get the best of preparations and not our crash programme approach. For some time now, I get confused because we have a senior national team with several players.
“If you ask me about the German national team, for instance, I can tell you their first 15 players and the same thing goes for the Brazilian and English national teams.
“That is not the same with Nigeria because, for the past four years, I cannot tell you about their first eleven. Week in week out, we keep bringing new legs.
“When are we going to get that formidable team? When you keep introducing new legs every time, it's like you are preparing and never ready for any major tournament.
“That is the major problem because by now, we should have an idea about the players that we are taking to Cameroon or any major championships.”
Nigeria finished third in their last outing in the biennial African football showpiece, defeating Tunisia 1-0 in the third-place match thanks to Odion Ighalo’s strike.