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Colin Udoh
Uganda striker Uche Ikpeazu expects Tuesday’s Africa Cup of Nations Group C finale against Nigeria to be a match that will tug at both sides of his heritage.
Born in England to a Nigerian father and Ugandan mother, the 30-year-old forward chose to represent his mother’s homeland, rather than the more illustrious team of his father’s country, with their decorated pedigree in African football.
It is a decision that will be put to the ultimate test when Uganda’s Cranes faces the Super Eagles needing a victory to advance to the round of 16.
Ikpeazu acknowledges that the moment will pull at his heartstrings but there is one result he will be aiming for, albeit, apologetically: “I’m half Nigerian, that’s where my dad is from so of course there’s going to be an emotional attachment.”
Ikpeazu, whose father hails from Delta State in the oil-rich south of Nigeria, added: “There’s always going to be that. But I have an emotional attachment to Uganda as well and I play for Uganda as well, so I will be hoping to beat Nigeria, I’m sorry.”
Uganda sit bottom of Group C with just one point from two matches, while Nigeria have already secured passage to the knockout stage as group winners with maximum points from two games, following their dominant 3-2 win over Tunisia.
A draw is unlikely to be enough for the Cranes, making Ikpeazu’s 80th-minute equalizer against Tanzania last week even more significant.
Coming off the bench, the St Johnstone forward scored a diving header from Denis Omedi‘s cross to salvage a 1-1 draw at the Fez Stadium, keeping Uganda’s tournament hopes alive, at least for one more game.
“I’m obviously happy. It keeps our dreams alive of qualifying from the group so I’m happy about that,” the former Middlesborough player said. “But obviously, you want to win the game.
“So if I could win the game and not score, that would have been my preference. But listen, I scored and we all know that we have to do the business against Nigeria.”
Even though his moment will be complicated by family ties, Ikpeazu says he has not planned any special gestures should he find the net against his father’s country, but is not entirely ruling anything out.
“In football, your emotions get the better of you so I don’t know, I’ll see how it goes,” he said. “I don’t have any planned celebrations or anything like that. If I score, that will be wonderful, but the most important thing is to get the three points.”
For Ikpeazu, simply being at the tournament represents a personal triumph after a protracted injury layoff that kept him out for nearly an entire year.
“You want to play at the highest level possible and obviously I’ve overcome so much trials and tribulations and to play at the African Cup of Nations has always been a dream of mine,” he said.
“It’s amazing but I have a lot of desire to progress through the next round. I don’t want the journey to finish, I feel like it’s just getting started.”
In the group’s other match, Tunisia will face Tanzania, with both teams also still in contention for advancement depending on results.
A draw will seal second place for the North Africans and could also see Tanzania squeak through ahead of Angola if it is a scoring draw, as the last best third-place finisher. But a win would guarantee them a place in the knockouts