As Ivory Coast wrap up groundwork for Saturday's clash against visiting Nigeria in the 2014 African Nations Championship qualifying return leg the local Elephants coach Norbert Saraka cites 2013 Africa Cup of Nations hero Sunday Mba as a major hurdle to surmount if the host team must overcome Nigeria.
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"He is one of the most dreaded guys here. We know what he can do and his weight in the team," Saraka told supersport.com on Friday in Abidjan.
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The 24-year-old Enugu Rangers midfielder scored two goals in Nigeria's 4-1 win over the Ivorians during the first leg played in Kaduna three weeks ago.
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"It's going to be a very tricky situation," Saraka said.
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"Concentrating too much on Mba will be hazardous for us, and not marking him tough enough will also be risky. So what do we do? I think the best thing is to play our game bearing in mind the players that can stab us at the back."
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Many fans in the country's commercial capital have lost hope of any possibility to overturn the 4-1 deficit but the coach believes his side will have a good day on Saturday.
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"We had a very bad outing in Kaduna. Our misfortunes were enormous. Two red cards and a penalty. If we had played a clean game Nigeria wouldn't have crush us 4-1. I'm not saying they couldn't have pulled off a win but not as wide as 4-1.
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"This time around, let see what happens," he said.
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Both teams will meet at the Stade Champroux on Saturday evening to determine who proceeds to the finals of the 2014 African Nations Championship holding in South Africa.
Sunday Mba is definately a match killer anytime anyday...He scores goals effortlessly...I must kudos him for that big time.