Team Officer of the Nigeria national team, Babafemi Raji, says the Super Eagles is fully aware of the threat that Mohamed Salah poses, but insists they must not focus just on beating the in-form forward, but on the team as a whole at the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations.
The three-time AFCON champions will face the Pharaohs of Egypt on January 11 before tackling Sudan and Guinea-Bissau respectively.
However, in an interview with Mehwar TV, Raji said that he’s confident the Super Eagles will finish above Egypt in their AFCON group.
“We very much respect the Egyptian team and know the capabilities of Mohamed Salah.
“Our team has great potential and know how to stop the strengths of the Pharaohs.
“We are here to play against the Egyptian national team, not just against Salah.
“It is certain that Nigeria is the first candidate to qualify from its group, and we do not care who will qualify with us, and we respect everyone,” Raji told Mehwar TV.
By Augustine Akhilomen
1 Comment
Mr man, who said Salah isn’t the best? Does that make Egypt unbeatable? Nigeria is a big footballing country we aren’t Comoros or Eritrea (no disrespect). You can’t expect us to focus on chasing salah about on the field. Nigeria will play Egypt 11 vs 11 and the best on the day will win, inferiority complex is the problem with most of you.
Nigeria played Argentina twice at world cup with Messi in their team and we were twice beaten by a narrow margin. See, Argentina’s case isn’t about Messi alone. We always meet at group stage (except in 1998) and they always beat us by a goal margin. We are always a tough team for them but they always carry the day.
1994 Argentina 2-1 Nigeria
2002 Argentina 1-0 Nigeria
2010 Argentina 1-0 Nigeria
2014 Argentina 3-2 Nigeria
2018 Argentina 2-1 Nigeria
Go and watch any of these matches again and tell me if Nigeria was outplayed. It is just some kind of a jinx not about Messi. Nigeria has the resources to play and beat Egypt even though Salah is a great player who is capable of winning the match for his country. Notwithstanding he shouldn’t be our main focus