With the Super Eagles camp set to open in Abu Dhabi this week, the Nigerian gaffer, Jose Peseiro, has assured Nigerians that the Super Eagles is capable of bringing the AFCON trophy back home after 11 years.
The most fierce continental football showpiece will kick start on January 14, with the Portuguese acknowledging that despite Super Eagles tied in a difficult group, Peseiro’s training programme and the talent in the squad will give his Nigerian side the edge in Group A.
The Super Eagles face a tough first-round group with Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea and Guinea-Bissau.
The Ivorians have home-field advantage while Equatorial Guinea reached the quarterfinals last time and Guinea-Bissau shocked the three-time AFCON champions in a slim one goal victory in early 2023.
He said: “We will fight to win the Africa Cup even though it won’t be easy. Our group is not easy because we are up against the Ivory Coast, who have a good squad and are playing at home.”
Concerning the selection of his 25-man squad he noted that “It was not easy to choose” optimistic about his squad and chances of winning he said, “We have to be at our best in our training and our matches.”
The Super Eagles will be seeking to please Nigerians after an abysmal performance in 2023.
The team managed just one win in their last four games and drawing three, despite parading one of the most lethal attack in Africa.
They made history for the wrong reason in 2023 after two avoidable draws in the World Cup qualification games against Zimbabwe and Lesotho ranked 125 and 153 respectively thereby extending their winless run in the World Cup Qualifier to five, the first time since the creation of the team.
Nigeria last won the AFCON title in 2013 in South Africa, under the management of the late Stephen Keshi, with his policy of finding the right balance between Nigeria Professional Football League stars and their counterparts based abroad was the key to the team’s success at the tournament.
Keshi made the bold move of picking six NPFL players in his final 23-man squad to South Africa, including Sunshine Stars’ Godfrey Oboabona, Warri Wolves’ Azubuike Egwuekwe, Kano Pillars’ Reuben Gabriel, and Enugu Rangers’ trio of Chigozie Agbim, Ejike Uzoenyi, and Sunday Mba.
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