History will favour defending champions Cameroon when they face Nigeria here on Sunday in the quarter-finals of the African Nations Cup.
Sunday's clash between the two countries will be the sixth time they have come face to face in the history of the tournament with Cameroon winning three of these encounters against a solitary victory for Nigeria's Super Eagles. The other game ended in a draw.
Off the pitch, the bitter border dispute over the oil-rich Bakasi Peninsula has added a new dimension to the rivalry between the two neighbours.
Cameroon and Nigeria first came head to head at the final of the 1984 Nations Cup in Abidjan, Ivory Coast.
A young Nigerian team, bursting with enthusiasm, raced into an early lead through the experienced midfielder Muda Lawal but the Indomitable Lions pullled level on 32 minutes courtesy of Rene Ndjeya.
Second-half goals by Theophile Abega and Ernest Ebongue gave Cameroon their first-ever Nations Cup title 12 years after they had hosted and failed to top the competition.
It would be four years before the teams clashed again at the tournament hosted by Morocco, first in the group stages and then again in the final.
Honours were even in the group rounds with a 1-1 draw but in the final Mauritanian referee Idrissa Sarr awarded a penalty which the big Cameroon sweeper Emmanuel Kunde tucked away in the 55th minute for the only goal of the game.
Nigeria finally got some revenge at the third-place match of Senegal '92 with Victor Ikpeba posting an impressive debut as the Eagles won 2-1.
Twelve years after their second Nations Cup truimph in Casablanca, controversy broke out as both teams stood on the threshold of retiring the Unity Cup first donated in 1980 by the Supreme Council for Sports in Africa (SCSA).
Cameroon took a 2-0 lead in the first half an hour in front of an expectant Lagos crowd before Nigeria fought back through goals by Ndukwe Chukwu and Austin 'Jay Jay' Okocha to take the game into extra-time.
In the ensuing penalty shootout after a 2-2 deadlock, Tunisian referee Mourad Daami ruled against Ikpeba's goal which television replays would later clearly show had crossed the Cameroonian goalline before rebounding off the underside of the bar.
Cameroon eventually ran away 4-3 winners on penalties to win the cup for keeps.
The long-standing rivalry between Nigeria and Cameroon, both winners of Olympic soccer gold, will not be complete without a mention of the recent results between age-group teams from the two nations.
In the last year or so, Cameroon's Under-17 team toppled their Nigerian counterparts as African champions while Cameroon's under-23s defeated their Nigerian counterparts at the final of the All-Africa Games in Abuja in October.