The Super Eagles of Nigeria are among the top seeded teams placed in Pot 1 for the draw ceremony of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations scheduled for Cairo, Egypt on Friday, Completesports.com reports.
The six seeded teams put in Pot 1 for the draw are Egypt (hosts), Cameroon (defending champions), and the quartet of Senegal, Tunisia, Nigeria and Morocco – based on their top placings in the latest April FIFA World Ranking.
Three-time African champions, Super Eagles, are for a tough and tricky draw following the draw procedures released by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) on Thursday.
Gernot Rohr’s men face the prospect of being placed in the same group as perennial rivals; Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire who are in Pot 2.
Other countries in Pot 2 are; Democratic Republic of Congo, Mali, Guinea and Algeria
Pot C consists of South Africa and some of the continent’s dark forces; Uganda, Benin, Mauritania, Madagascar, Kenya.
Tanzania, who are managed by former Nigeria international Emmanuel Amuneke are placed in Pot D along with the quintet of; Zimbabwe, Namibia, Guinea Bissau, Angola and Burundi.
Nigeria will lead one of the six groups of the 24-team AFCON 2019, and by chance, Amuneke’s Taifa Stars could emerge from Pot 4 and be the last team in the Super Eagles’ group.
The Super Eagles are one of the first teams to secure a place in Egypt 2019, qualifying with a game in hand after holding the Bafana Bafana of South Africa to a 1-1 draw in their penultimate qualifying game in Johannesburg.
They failed to qualify for the last two editions of the tournament.
The Super Eagles’ last appeared at the AFCON finals in 2013 in South Africa and won the title after edging out Burkina Faso 1-0 in the final courtesy of Sunday Mba’s first half strike.
The draw ceremony which will hold at Gaza, near Cairo will kick-off at 7 pm Nigerian time on Friday.
Several former African football stars like Yaya Toure, Mark Fish, El Hadji Diouf , Moustafa Hadji amongst others are expected to witness the ceremony.
THE AFCON 2019 DRAW POTS
Pot 1: Egypt, Cameroon, , Senegal, Tunisia, Nigeria, Morocco
Pot 2: Ghana, CIV, Algeria, Guinea, Mali, DR Congo
Pot 3: South Africa, Uganda, Benin, Mauritania, Madagascar, Kenya
Pot 4: Zimbabwe, Namibia, Guinea Bissau, Angola, Tanzania, Burundi
By Adeboye Amosu
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COMMENTS
Bring on anybody
It doesnt matter what team we meet in the AFCON so long as the strenght of our team is managed effectively against the strenght other teams. Shooting and off the ball movements is important to distraction so team members have to work extremely hard for team goals.
Nigeria shall prevail. Nigeria shall work hard. Nigeria fears to one. Nigeria spirits trumps all comers.
Nigerians stop deceiving yourselves. Bring on anybody ke? If truly we watched the friendly match that we played 0-0 in Asaba recently then, we should humble ourselves by now. So, we haven’t learned our lessons from coach Rohr yet? Keep believing, no wahala. It is well. God bless Nigeria!!!
Get a life kid.
Always sounding like a broken record. Can’t you be positive for once?
You re a negative person you should be ashamed of your self
The team is been built. Give Rohr time.
Rohr must listen to everybody if we are to do well in Egypt, he should work very hard on our set pieces, etebo is not yet mature for such duty. He should rest musa in some of our friendly match then start onyekuru in his position let’s see what he can offer.
Without being arrogant , one should expect Rohr and his boys to survive any group they find themselves based on the seedings.
Potential opponents :
Guinea (pot 2) : I will like to see the Sili stars of Guinea (or whatever they are called) test their mights against the Super Eagles.
Guinea have some interesting names and it will be a test of their ascendancy should they draw us and get anything out.
Uganda (pot 3): Personally, I will like a re-run of the recent friendly between Nigeria and Uganda that ended 0:0 in Adana.
I get the feeling Uganda will be hoping to set the record straight that the poor pitch of Adana was what prevented them from walloping us at our backyard.
Very funny…..
Tanzania (pot 4): Ighalo territory! By around 30 minutes into a match like this, Ighalo would have found the back of the net; maybe even twice.
But Amunike will tell his boys:”lose to any team, but do not lose to Nigeria ‘.
Correction
***Uganda and Nigeria played in Asaba ****
Omo9ja as much as we both share the same sentiment of this average coach it doesn’t mean we should stop believing in our country even though we are not guaranteed good football but let’s be mindful of our criticism inspite of realism. By this way other thinkers will accept the views that ought to be seen and acknowledged. One day Naija will get things right and as a part citizen I will believe in Naija spirit wether Rohr or not!!!
The crucial factor is not to have 3 strong teams in a group. A draw such as Nigeria Ghana South Africa, and one other is scary
Even that does not scare me.
If Ighalo and Co can’t fashion a way out a group containing Ghana, South Africa and Tanzania (for example) – knowing 3 teams can make it out of the group – then they have no business being in the Afcon!
If indeed we find ourselves in the nightmare scenario where Nigeria does not qualify from such a group, a recommendation should be made for the immediate sacking of the coach and disbandment of such a team!
Harsh view? I know but I stand by it.
I totally agree with you
If we put our house in place by now we shouldn’t be scared of any team.
This is the first time in the history of Nigeria football that Super Eagles are heading to the Afcon tournament with no passion. We as Nigerians don’t feel like we qualified for this year Afcon.
For me, coaching job should be the easiest thing why because all you have to do is to search and keep searching for the best of the best players.
Each position must having two best players.
Your reserve bench must be good as your first 11.
We don’t have these things in place and we are expecting miracle? We have to be honest with ourselves this time around.
All I want to see in Egypt this year is total football. I want to see good football.
I want to see good goalkeeper manning the post while our strikers are scoring goals. I don’t care is if it is going to be Ighalo. As long as net is shaking in every match Super Eagles are playing, I’m satisfied. Once again, I want to watch my darling team with passion but not with tension.
Did we ever seen Westerof or Jo bonfere relying on any player?
Even, coach Garba or coach Keshi?
I have learned my lesson last year during the world cup and I’m not seeing changes at all.
Coach Amunike started after coach Rohr and his steam keeps improving and we can see the difference today.
What do you expect from a team that went to the world cup? maturity, boldness, confidence, winning mentality and never say die spirit. Ask yourselves do we have one of these qualities in this present team?
If they want to say now, they will be saying omo9ja is a
negative person.
Our thinking must be different now.
Our expectations are not quite the same. That is why I always said I am talking to those who are matured enough to understand and figure out why things are like this.
Sacking the coach won’t solve the problem but fixing the problem of the coach is the best for the team if NFF knows because new coach will start all over again with different players entirely. It is well. Fingers crossed. God bless Nigeria!!!
You are indeed a negative human being,there’s nothing wrong with the team..
No team in Africa is perfect and Nigeria will always be among the Nations Cup favorites..
Last time we won it nobody gave the team any chance..
Keep your negativity to yourself and stop leaching the joy out of a fun game for others..
If you think Tanzania are suddenly the in thing after 39years of absence then I suggest you switch allegiance to them..
Good luck to you and your Tanzanian national team when we meet at the AFCON..
“If we put our house in place by now we shouldn’t be scared of any team”
Thank you, weldone….That means the Morrocan FA’s house isnt in order since they are seeing us as favorites….the same for the Egyptian FA, the Ghanaian FA and all other teams who think Nigeria are favorites.
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“This is the first time in the history of Nigeria football that Super Eagles are heading to the Afcon tournament with no passion”
….FAT lie. Very unsubstantiable claim. No day passes without a piece of news about SE viz-a-viz the forthcoming AFCON from every online broadcast media from Nigeria including CSN. I wonder if you are living inside the oduvai gorge. Or maybe you can clarify what you mean by ‘with no passion’. Speak for yourself. It is your hatred for Rohr that has killed your passion. While most of us here are looking forward to an exciting AFCON with a heart warming performance from the eagles (i’ve even planned a working leave for that period)…your own heart is bitter cos Rohr remains in the saddle still…so bad for you that you have even predicted a group stage exit on several occasions. ‘Thine enemies shall know no peace’ so says the book of the law….when you stop being an enemy, you will know peace.
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“For me, coaching job should be the easiest thing”
Why then didnt you become a coach….pls when rohr is eventually sacked pls make sure you apply for the job. YOUR COUNTRY NEEDS YOU….not just to run mouth on CSN. Why is Pele, maradona, Platini et al not the greatest coaches in the world like they were as players. The same you who used to rain abuses on late keshi calling him “gather and play” coach now come here to eulogize him…..I sure the ‘big boss’ must be turning in his resting place by your mentioning his name. you better not let the spirit of the dead rise from their graves and give you a dirty slap.
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“Each position must having two best players.Your reserve bench must be good as your first 11.”
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Please kindly name 1 position in the current SE that doesn’t have the best Nigerian player anywhere on this planet in that position playing in it, or having a player already invited in the team who can feature in such position..? We have asked you severally to name just a squad of just 11 players that are far better than the ones that Rohr has extended invitations to in the last 2 and a half years…yet you cannot. You claimed agege and iyanaipaja boys are better than the current SE players…..im yet to see any of them either in our u20 or U17 team, talk more of the SE.
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“Coach Amunike started after coach Rohr and his team keeps improving and we can see the difference today”
How many of Amuneke’s matches have you seen before arriving at the conclusion that his team keeps improving…? So G. Rohr’s team is not improving right, that was why we moved from 13th to 3rd. Let us thank God for the privilege he has given to Amuneke and not over eulogize him yet. His team lost to the likes of lesotho and CPV and scraped through to afcon with the aid of a well orchestrated 4th minute red card to an ugandan player (go and watch the highlights of that game on youtube) in a must win home match while praying for lesotho not to win against CPV. If lesotho had won, Amuneke wouldnt have gone to afcon even with a 10-0 win. So lets thank God for him and move on, rather than belittling others just to hype him.
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“If they want to say now, they will be saying omo9ja is a negative person”
You judge yourself if you are one or not. When everyone is celebrating, you are always in tears over the same matters everyone is celebrating….judge yourself if you are negative or not
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“Our expectations are not quite the same”
Of course you are right…while the rest of us are anticipating an exiting afcon that will see this current team emerge finally and stamp its feet as the numero uno on the soil of africa….your expectation (and those of other enemies of progress) has always been to wake up one day and hear that Rohr has been sacked….this you have re-iterated on thais forum times without number. We cannot count the number of times you have predicted that the SE will crash out in the group stage of the forthcoming AFCON. Your people say “omo ale ni n fi owo osi j’uwe ile baba nla re”. I have always told you’all and will never be tired of telling you again and again, that your days of joy will surely come someday, when another man apart from Rohr will be at the helms of the team….but those days a far of my brother…very far off.
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“Sacking the coach won’t solve the problem but fixing the problem of the coach is the best for the team if NFF knows because new coach will start all over again with different players entirely”
Na now you wake…? Who give you sense chop from dream…??? Because up till now, you song has always been that of sacking the coach…even wen he had just freshly qualified us for 2019 afcon, after 2 failed attempts.
My brother…that is even the kind of group i’m praying for. The toughest pairings…so that either the wailings of those who keep undermining the team under the guise of being objective, albeit ‘blindly and nonsensically’, will be justified or they will forever have their guts shut for good. If they can still undermine the top scorer in afcon qualifiers with lame excuses like ” he was scoring against fishermen teams….he was scoring tap-ins….he was scoring penalties”,believe me, they will undermine the coach even if he comes back with the trophy with excuses like, our group stage opponents weren’t strong.
So let them come, the harder they come, the harder they will fall. I just pray things go according to plan…our players remaining fit and not loosing form anytime close to or during the afcon….nff not trying to dictate to the coach….no internal wranglings btw the nff/players, nff/technical crew, technical,crew and players. Ceteris paribus, our biggest challenge will only come from the last 4 stage. Unless it is not this same team we have been seeing since after Russia 2018.