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Midfielder, Wilfred Ndidi, believes South Africa will be out to avenge their Africa Cup of Nations semi-final loss to Nigeria when both teams clash in Friday's 2026 World Cup qualifier at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.
The Bafana Bafana lost 4-2 on penalties to the Eagles in the semi-finals of the last AFCON in February after full time scores ended 1-1.
Ndidi, who is one of the senior players in the squad ahead of the game, predicted an interesting game against Hugo Broos side who have not lost a game in their last two visits to Uyo.
The Bafana Bafana held the Eagles to a 2-2 draw in an AFCON qualifying game in 2014 before earning a shock 2-0 win in 2016.
"Looking back to what we did at the AFCON, they (South Africa) will be coming for revenge and for us as a team, we are expecting that because we know it’s not going to be an easy game," Ndidi told The NFF media.
He noted: "When they look back and remember that we knocked them out of the final, they will come for us. So it is going to be an interesting game.
"The way we performed at the AFCON has raised the standard and the expectations are now really high."
The Leicester City midfielder also admitted that the late arrival of some players to camp had affected the team's preparation for the game.
Ademola Lookman, Alex Iwobi, Paul Onuachu, Frank Onyeka and Calvin Bassey were all left stranded after the Nigerian Labour Congress embarked on a nationwide strike which stopped flight operations.
"To be honest, it has affected the preparation because normally, we were supposed to start training on Saturday and it’s been about three days that we’ve not been together," Ndidi said.
