Vogts is confident over Nigeria's chances

Nigeria will be eliminated from the Africa Cup of Nations if they lose to Mali and the Ivory Coast beat Benin in today's group-B make or mar encounter.

But Nigeria's German coach Berti Vogts believes the best is yet to come from his team, which was beaten 1-0 by the Ivory Coast in their opening game last Monday.

"My players have a good team spirit and I know they'll give everything they have to go through," said Vogts.

With Seydou Keita and Mahamadou Diarra in midfield, Mali have one of the strongest midfields in the competition.

The Eagles laboured to a 1-0 victory over Benin on Monday, but captain Keita warned Nigeria that they would have to overcome a Mali team that has a strong team spirit.

"There is a lot of solidarity within the team and in the Nations Cup, solidarity is a key element," said Keita.