By Ebube Dike

Two Eagles clashed on Sunday in the Round of 16 of the Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon.

The Super Eagles of Nigeria and the Carthage Eagles of Tunisia. It was a “Battle of Eagles”, so the media tagged it

The Super Eagles, three-time winners and in current form were seen and considered the favourite to progress into the quarter-finals against the Carthage Eagles who have only won the AFCON once when they hosted in 2004 and had a poor run of form in the group stage – one win, two losses.

The Eagles of Carthage defeated 10-man Super Eagles of Nigeria 1-0 in a round of 16 match played at the Roumdé Adjia Stadium in Garoua this evening.

After a goalless first half skipper Youssef Msakni gave Tunisia the lead two minutes after recess. Maskni beat one defender and found space to shoot from outside the box. Nigerian goalkeeper Maduka Okoye had a touch on the ball, but it rested in the net.

The first half was a balanced affair although the Tunisians blocked lots of the Super Eagles wing play.

Nigeria’s Moses Simon, Wilfred Ndidi and Samuel Chukwueze had all missed chances early in the first five minutes. The Eagles of Carthage defended well and made sure they dominated more of the possession play.

In the 47th minute Msakni’s goal made the difference before Nigeria’s substitute Alexander Iwobi was sent off after 66th minute.

Iwobi who plies his trade for Everton in the English Premier League had replaced Kelechi Iheanacho in the 59th minute, but his bad tackle on the Tunisian captain Msakni saw him earn an early send-off to the dressing room.

The Supers Eagles who won all their matches in the Group stage did not give up and kept pushing forward to try and get a goal, but the Tunisians defended as a unit.

Nigerian goalkeeper Okoye was on hand to punch away a well struck Naim Sliti shot after 74 minutes. Simon Moses also had a chance to level matters for Nigeria, but his freekick from outside the box missed the target. With goalkeeper beaten, Nigeria’s substitute Sadoq Umar had his shot miss the target by inches.

In the Group stage Tunisia started with a 1-0 defeat to Mali, before they humbled Mauritania 4-0. They fell 1-0 to newcomers in the AFCON stage Gambia in the last group match to only qualify as one of the best losers. For the Super Eagles they stopped Egypt 1-0, saw off Sudan 3-1 and handed Guinea Bissau a 2-0 defeat.

The Eagles of Carthage who have only won the AFCON once in 2004 will now face Burkina Faso in the quarter final stage.