BY KUNLE SOLAJA.

When Nigeria faces Algeria in Constantine on Friday, it will be 13 years four months and 21 days since the Super Eagles last lost a World Cup qualifying match. This translates to 4,891 days of an unbeaten streak across 34 matches.

The dead rubber match will be the 20^th encounter of both teams since their first clash at the second All Africa Games in Lagos in 1973. That maiden encounter ended 2-2 draw, Algeria being the only team Nigeria did not beat on the road to win its first continental honour – the gold medal of the football event of the All Africa Games.

In significance, Friday’s match  may not have much value as Nigeria’s Super Eagles are already qualified for the Russia 2018 World Cup, while Algeria have since crashed out two match days before now.

It is therefore not a star attraction in the mould of the Cote d’Ivoire versus Morocco clash which is a winner-takes-all episode.

But Sports Village Square analysis will reveal that the Algeria-Nigeria encounter has great significance for eternal storage.  Here are some of the insightful points of the encounter.

• Nigeria was the last team Algeria faced to qualify for the World Cup for the first time in 1981. Algeria beat Nigeria 0-2 in Lagos on October 10, 1981 and 2-1 in Constantine on October 30, 1981 to qualify for 1982 World Cup.

• Algeria was the last team Nigeria faced to qualify for the World Cup for the first time in 1993. Needing just a draw, the Super Eagles played 1-1 draw with Algeria on October 8, 1993 to become the first Anglophone country in Africa to qualify for the World Cup.

• Nigeria will be attempting to extend the Super Eagles’ unbeaten run to 35 matches in the World Cup qualifying series. This is the longest in Africa. Nigeria last lost a World Cup qualifying match in Luanda on June 20, 2004 when Angola had a 1-0 win in the race to Germany 2006. Nigeria’s record is the second longest unbeaten run globally after that of Spain’s 59. Nigeria’s 34 unbeaten run is even four ahead that of World Cup holders, Germany. Next to that are those of Cote d’Ivoire and Switzerland both at 25 matches each.

• Both Algeria and Nigeria were the last two African teams standing at the Brazil 2014 World Cup.

• Both teams lost to European sides on the same day at the Brazil 2014 Round of 16 encounters. Nigeria lost 0-2 to France; Algeria lost 1-2 to Germany. If the two African teams had won their Round of 16 matches, they would have clashed in the quarter finals, thus an African team could had gotten to the semi finals. It would have also been the first time two African teams clashed at the World Cup.

• Former Nigeria’s strongman of defence, Bright Omokaro, got his nickname of “Ten-Ten” when he hacked down an Algerian player who could neither return to the field nor be substituted and that evened the line-up after Nigeria’s Ademola Adeshina had been red-carded. Maverick Nigerian radio commentator, the late Ernest Okonkwo screamed: “Omokaro has made it ten-ten.”  From then, ‘Ten-Ten’ became the nickname of the hard tackling defender.

• It is another clash of Rabah Madjer and Alloy Agu, the two captains of the 1990 Africa Cup of Nations final match which Algeria won 1-0. Rabah Madjer who captained the Algerian team is now the head coach. Agu who also captained Nigeria in the match is in the technical crew of the Super Eagles as the goalkeeper trainer.

• Since the third round of the World Cup qualifying series began in Africa last year October, Algeria, the initial highest ranked African team and hot favourites to top the Group 2 which was aptly tagged “Group of Death”, has not won any match in the series, losing all, and drawing just the opener against Cameroon. Will Nigeria achieve a double over Algeria as Zambia did?

• Both Algeria and Nigeria have green as their dominant national colours.

         ALGERIA FLAG                                                                                                NIGERIA FLAG

• Their names have almost the same alphabets, and sounding almost the same. The differences in the names of Algeria and Nigeria are just the first two alphabets of their respective names.

• The Constantine encounter will be the 20^th of both countries overall, but the eighth in World Cup qualifying series.

         Head-to-Head: ALGERIA vs. NIGERIA

                    P        W        D        L        F        A

Nigeria        19       8        4        7       27      22

Algeria        19       7        4        8       22      27

• 10 January 1973 (2AAG) Nigeria 2-2 Algeria
• 28 March 1978 (3AAG) Algeria 1-0 Nigeria
• 22 March 1980 (CAN) Nigeria 3-0 Algeria
• 10 October 1981 (WCq) Nigeria 0-2 Algeria
• 30 October 1981 (WCq) Algeria 2-1 Nigeria
• 10 March 1982 (CAN) Algeria 2-1 Nigeria
• 11 March 1984 (CAN) Algeria 0-0 Nigeria
• 15 January 1988 (Oq) Algeria 1-0 Nigeria
• 30 January 1988 (Oq) Nigeria 2-0 Algeria
• 23 March 1988 (CAN) Algeria 1-1 Nigeria *(8 -9 penalty shoot-out)
• 2 March 1990 (CAN) Algeria 5-1 Nigeria
• 16 March 1990 (CAN) Algeria 1-0 Nigeria
• 13 July 1993 (WCq) Nigeria 4-1 Algeria
• 8 October 1993 (WCq) Algeria 1-1 Nigeria
• 21 January 2002 (CAN) Algeria 0-1 Nigeria
• 3 July 2004 (WCq) Nigeria 1-0 Algeria
• 8 September 2005 (WCq) Algeria 2-5 Nigeria
• 30 January 2010 (CAN) Algeria 0-1 Nigeria
• 12 November 2016 (WCq) Nigeria 3-1 Algeria

• When both teams met in Uyo last year’s November, it was Nigeria’s milestone of 100^th World Cup qualifying match and 50^th home game.

• The November 12, 2016 match in Uyo was Nigeria’s 100th World Cup qualifying match.

• When they meet again on November 10 in Constantine, it will be Algeria’s 95^th World Cup qualifying match and Nigeria’s 104^th, the second highest in Africa after Morocco’s 111^st.

• Austin ‘Jay Jay’ Okocha scored 16 goals for Nigeria in his entire career. The first of the goals was a converted free kick against Algeria in a July 13, 1993 World Cup match in Lagos which Nigeria won 4-1.

• Austin Jay Jay Okocha’s brother, Emma Okocha made his international debut in a match with Algeria on March 2, 1990.

• The Okocha Brothers: Emma ‘Jay Jay’ Okocha and Austin ‘Jay Jay ‘ Okocha scored land mark goals against Algeria.

• Emma Okocha’s only goal for Nigeria was scored against Algeria in the opening match of the 1990 Africa Cup of Nations in Algiers. Nigeria lost 5-1.
• Algeria was the team Nigeria beat to win its first Africa Cup of Nations title in 1980. The then Green Eagles won 3-0 on March 22, 1980. 
• Nigeria’s Skipper Christian Chukwu lifts the Africa Cup of Nations trophy after a 3-0 defeat of Algeria on March 22, 1980 in Lagos.

• Nigeria was the country Algeria beat in 1990 to win its only Africa Cup of Nations title till date. Algeria beat Nigeria 1-0 in the final match played in Algiers on Match 16, 1990.

• Nigerian football legend, Segun Odegbami played his last international match when Nigeria faced Algeria in Constantine on October 30, 1981.Nigeria lost the match 2-1.

• Segun Odegbami unfamiliarly put on shirt number 9 in his very last international match, a World Cup qualifying match with Algeria on October 30, 1981.

• Rabah Madjer, Algeria greatest football icon will have his baptism of fire as Algeria’s coach when the team faces Nigeria on Friday.

• Rabah Madjer, captain of Algeria in confrontation with Nigeria’s Isaac Semitoje during the 1990 Africa Cup of Nations final match. Madjer will be leading Algeria to face Nigeria, this time as a coach.
  
• Former Nigeria’s captain, Christian Chukwu’s last match for Nigeria was against Algeria on October 10, 1981 in a World Cup qualifying duel which Nigeria shockingly lost 0-2 at home. It was also the case for Thompson Usiyen, one of Nigeria’s potent strikers in the seventies.

• Algeria was a victim of an alleged World Cup match fixing episode in Gijon Spain in a West Germany versus Austria match. Two years later, Algeria and Nigeria were alleged to have played an “accord match” in a Group B Africa Cup of Nations match in Bouake, Cote d’Ivoire. The referee of the match, Karim Camara of Guinea, had to issue a yellow card to the captains of both sides, Stephen Keshi for Nigeria and Ali Feghani for Algeria.

• Dateline: Bouake, Cote d’Ivoire March  11, 1984 – Guinean referee, Karim Camara issues a yellow card to skippers Stephen Keshi of Nigeria and Ali Feghani of Algeria. The gesture is actually a general caution to both teams for ‘unsporting’ behaviour.

• Algeria once beat Nigeria silly, 5-1 in Algiers, Algeria. Nigeria also once beat Algeria silly 5-2 in Oran, Algeria.