Destinolove

If you had gone to sleep on a dark, stormy night, with the wind howling outside like a homeless ghoul, and dreamt of a possible World Cup qualifying group for Nigeria, it could not have been any more horrific than what came out of the bowls in Cairo on Friday. Somehow, the Super Eagles managed to draw arguably the toughest teams possible in all four pots; if fortune favours the brave, ill-luck appears to dog the unprepared.

Algeria are Africa’s highest-ranked team, and are perhaps underrated at just outside the top 30 in the world; only Egypt have won more Afcon titles than Cameroon, and no other African nation has been to more World Cups, while Zambia were African champions as recently as four years ago. It is set to be a hugely tasking pool, but how this grouping is viewed depends greatly on your overall world view.

However, the more pessimistic slant is to consider that this is not a team that, like in the noughties, had the luxury of complacency. Nigeria’s slew of bronze medal placings at the Afcon in the previous decade may have underwhelmed, but that routine, despised as it was, illustrated perfectly that the three-time African champions were consistently one of Africa’s top teams.

The decade immediately following though, has de-emphasized this, a fate curiously shared by Egypt and Cameroon, the two teams that most frequently pipped the Super Eagles to the post. What is left now is a group of spring lambs with no identity, no shepherd to guide their considerable promise and only a handful at the peak of their abilities; John Obi Mikel comes to mind, as do Efe Ambrose, Carl Ikeme and Elderson Echiejile; while Odion Ighalo is only now entering his prime.

The group begins with a trip to Zambia, before the Algerians come visiting. There is some comfort to be had in the knowledge that Les Fennecs struggle against West African sides - they have one win in five against West African teams at the Afcon going back two editions - and are also in a period of managerial uncertainty following the resignation of Christian Gourcuff [below] this year.

That, however, is balanced by the presence of a largely settled squad and top quality in various positions, especially attack. Riyad Mahrez and Yacine Brahimi are two of the finest attackers on the continent, and with Islam Slimani, Ryad Boudebouz, Rachid Ghezzal and Sofiane Feghouli also at their disposal upfront, Algeria are a fearsome proposition.

Cameroon are also somewhat in flux, but showed in their friendly earlier this month against France that they can still hold their own at a high level. The hostility between these two nations has thawed somewhat, but their double header will provide the perfect opportunity to reignite one of the continent’s fiercest rivalries: no other two nations have contested more Afcon finals against each other than these two.

The strength of the group is such that there may well be little to separate the teams going into the home stretch.

The mild quality gradient means that none of the four teams are likely to run away with it, and as many as three could be in the reckoning on the eve of Matchday 6: Algeria start and finish at home, but their shaky record away from home means they are unlikely to be sitting pretty at any point, and will probably be under pressure to win at home against Nigeria to secure qualification at the death.

The Super Eagles have their successive home games early on, on Matchdays 2 and 3, meaning they are most likely to build up a head of steam. This, however, is easier said than done, especially considering that, aside the might of the enemy without, there is opposition from the inefficiency within.