Debutants Nigeria will confront fellow West Africans the Eagles of Mali in a Group A at the African Nations Championship (CHAN) on Saturday in Cape Town.
Fellow Group A rivals Hosts South Africa and Mozambique will open the biennial championship reserved for locally based players in Africa.
Nigeria have failed to qualify for the previous two editions of the competition, while Mali will be making their second appearance at the competition after making it to the last edition in 2012.
To reach CHAN 2014, Nigeria saw off Cote d'Ivoire on a 4-3 aggregate, while Mali defeated Guinea 3-2 on aggregate.
Nigeria will be relying on the experience of full internationals like skipper and goalkeeper Chigozie Agbim, Solomon Kwambe, Ejike Uzoenyi, Azubuike Egwuekwe and Francis Benjamin.
Mali, on the other hand, will bank on experienced Stade Malien goalkeeper Soumbeila Diakate, who has 34 caps with main team and the likes of Ousmane Keita and Adama Traore to make headway.
The West Africans, who are handled by coach Djibril Drame, have struggled in the build-up to the tournament, failing to impress at the WAFU Nations Cup in Ghana and also losing 1-0 to CHAN-bound Libya in a warm-up match played in Casablanca, Morocco, last month.
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