Salomon Kalou has said he hopes to win another bet against close friend Mikel Obi by helping Cote d�Ivoire beat Nigeria on Sunday.
Cote d�Ivoire and Nigeria will battle for a right to play in the semi-final of this year�s Africa Cup of Nations.
Kalou and Mikel struck a great friendship when they played together for English Premier League side Chelsea until Kalou departed for France in the summer.
�I always like to score against Obi Mikel. That�s our bet when we play against each other and we will see what happens on Sunday,� said Kalou, who incidentally scored the match winner when the Elephants pipped the Eagles 1-0 in a group game at the 2008 tournament in Ghana.
�They have great players who can make a difference. We played them in 2008 and we beat them but it was a very difficult game.
�They have a quality team. We respect them, but we have a goal, that is to win the cup.�
Manchester City star Yaya Toure insisted Cote d�Ivoire are not favourites to win the 2013 competition.
�We�re not favourites because the Nations Cup is a very tough competition, may be the favourites are Nigeria and Burkina Faso, but not the Ivory Coast,� he maintained.
He said he therefore expects a tough match on Sunday.
�It will be tough in this quarterfinal and so we have to work very hard to go as far as possible and do something very important this year,� he said.
�Nigeria is a strong team, they have Obi Mikel, (Victor) Moses, they are fantastic players
�We�re ready for the game. I don�t want to talk about the match, but the most important thing is the game itself on Sunday.�
The two West African rivals have clashed on five occasions at the Nations Cup finals with Nigeria winning two and drawing one of these matches.
Champions in 1992, Cote d�Ivoire stopped Nigeria 1-0 in the semi-finals of the 2006 AFCON in Egypt and also shaded it 1-0 in Sekondi in a group game in 2008 in Ghana.
Two-time winners Nigeria edged it on penalties after a pulsating 2-2 draw in a 1994 semi-final in Tunis and also defeated their regional rivals 1-0 in a group tie in Algiers in 1990.
Both teams played out a goalless draw in a group match in Lagos in 1980 with the Eagles going ahead to win their first-ever continental trophy on home soil.
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