BY KUNLE SOLAJA

The path to glory at the delayed 2021 Africa Cup of Nations holding in Cameroon will be mapped out this Tuesday (August 17 ) as the final draw will be held.

For record holders of the third place position in the continent's premier football competition, the Super Eagles, they will be seeking to avoid any of the top seeded three teams in the Pot 2 of the draw.

The three teams that could put banana peels on the path of the Super Eagles at the group stage are Egypt, Ghana and Cote d'Ivoire - all former champions at the competition.

The trio collectively have won the trophy  13 times out of 32 editions. They are the teams, that not just Nigeria, but the remaining five teams in Pot 1 will wish to avoid.

Egypt lead the deadly pack in Pot 2. They have won the trophy seven times and are still hungry of a record extending eighth time.

Ghana follow with five titles and had been under-achievers since their last victory in 1982. At next year, it will be forty years since the Black Stars last tasted victory. That is enough to make them hungrier.

Cote d'Ivoire with two titles on their trophy shelf are seeking to re-enact their golden era when they had deadly players such as Didier Drogba, Kolo Toure among others.

Any fixture with Cote d'Ivoire of recent had posed danger for Nigeria. The Ivoriens were directly involved in eliminating both the men's and women's teams of Nigeria from qualification for the football events of Tokyo 2020.

Even their Under 20 team similarly dealt heavy blows to Nigeria at WAFU tournament last year. With Nigeria seeking to break away from their usual third place which they had for a record-extending eighth time in 2019, the wish will be to avert the trio of 'extremely' dangerous teams of Pot 2.

Scaling the group stage has almost become a tradition for Nigeria as the team only failed to achieve this twice - 1963 and 1982.