Calvin Bassey has said the Super Eagles can do more about their inability to keep clean sheets, as they get ready for the knockout phase of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco.
The Super Eagles were one of the highest scoring sides during the group stage at this year’s tournament.
Eric Chelle-led team scored eight goals but conceded four goals, letting in goals in the three group matches.
This has raised concerns among football fans the team get set for the knockout stage.
Commenting on the team’s lack of clean sheet, Bassey said it is their desire to not let in goals.
“We always want to keep a clean sheet of course, it’s something me and Semi (Ajayi) talk about us being the central defenders,” he told journalists at the team’s final training session on Monday before Monday’s game with Mozambique.
“I think if you look at most of the games it’s just little details and we are making sure that going into the next stage we don’t concede such types of goals.
“It’s a collective effort, we can do more about it, we can improve on it and hopefully we get it right.”
Also Read: NFF Excited About Okonkwo’s Nationality Switch From England
The Super Eagles will go into the encounter with Mozambique as favourites, thanks to their pedigree and record against the Mambas.
In five previous meetings, the Super Eagles have four wins and one draw.
But Bassey warned about looking down on any opposition.
He said:”Never underestimate any team, you can’t underestimate any team. Look at yesterday’s game Tunisia had 11 men, Mali had 10 men they beat them, they took it all the way to penalties.
“On paper we have all the big names but for us it’s focusing on ourselves and making sure we do everything right and making sure we execute the game plan we have and that’s the most important thing.”
By James Agberebi in Fes, Morocco
Photo by Ganiyu Yusuf in Fes, Morocco
13 Comments
I don’t get it. Is it the rainy season in Morocco? Did CAF check the weather forecast before fixing the Afcon schedule? Only a few games have seen a dry pitch.
The expanded Club world cup caused the shift in date as it was first fixed for June (end of football season) and to maintain the “2025 afcon” by fire by force, they chose December.
2023 edition was played in 2024. CAF didn’t want to appear not sacrosanct with dates again lol.
That’s why they have chosen to go with the 4 years cycle after 2028 because club world cup will still affect it by 2029 if it had not been adjusted.
Now they will “split” viewership from 2028 by fixing afcon at the end of the season, the same time as the Euros, Copa America, Asian championship in June and July.
CAF bowed to FIFA. From 2028, a typical African player will have at most 3 afcons to attend (if they are discovered in their teens). Old men will play at most 2 unlike the 5 or 6 many attempted in the current format.
Anyway, on the flip side, it will expose more African players to better foreign clubs since players will not “disappear” every 2 years for afcon
You’re right. CAF always has to bend to the more powerful bodies, FIFA, and even sometimes to UEFA preferences.
Thought though, that we share the same season with many countries in Africa cos no longer raining here. I also remember in CIV in 2024, it was dry that December/January.
CAF is a reflection of the type of leadership we have across Africa…..Senseless, myopic and visionless.
Using rain as an excuse to fix Afcon in the middle of the season when title and relegation races are at their peak is the product of stupid thinking. Hellooo….It’s December/ January in Morocco and it’s been raining cats and dogs….so has it stopped us from seeing beautiful football…..NO. Why is that, simple pitch draining technology.
We can’t play Afcon in June because of rains, yet we play competitive qualifiers all through the rainy season across the continent……who are we fooling if not ourselves.
When you refuse to advance intellectually, those who have will continue to take advantage of you and control you.
If Afcon is held at the end of the season, clubs will not fight anybody….after all, copa America, AFC championship, Concacaf Gold Cup and the Euros are all held at the end of the season and we never have any club Vs country rows African players always have when it time to go play at Afcon.
Clubs would not mind players disappearing every 2 years if AFCON were to be played in June. All we just need are the type of pitches we are seeing in Morocco which have built-in state-of-the-art instantaneous draining capabilities.
But CAF rather chose to sell the soul of African Football for a pot of porridge. The honour, pride and glory of African Football sold in exchange for money. I knew from the day Motsepe started holding hands with infantino at every caf event that it would only be a matter of time before he bends over for infantino.
Motsepe is using the future of African Football to pursue personal business interests.
Afcon has been the biggest window for African players to attract suitors from Europe and other parts of the world.
Afcon has been the platform by which most African countries develop or improve their sporting infrastructure….give Nigeria Afcon hosting rights today and by 2028 we would have at least 8 grade A stadiums, rather than the 1 that we have now. We have seen Cotedivoire go from having only the Houphet Boigny stadium to host top grade matches to having a world class Alhassane Outtara Stadium plus 7 others, same as Cameroon with the Japoma stadium and 5 others in addition to Amadou Ahidjio Stadium. Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania will host the next Afcon and the new infrastructure they have developed for that purpose in nothing short of amazing.
CAF has inadvertently killed the process that has resulted in at least 6 new stadiums on the continent every 2 years.
Let’s not even talk of the economic aspect and it’s impact across the continent. Denying the football industry and it value chain, the tourism industry, the media and marketing industry and others the opportunity of cash inflow every 2 years and most importantly, the opportunity of new Africa youngsters emerging every 2 years should be considered as crime against humanity.
And later some people will still want to blame the white man for Africas problems when we have been the ones selling our souls to them, since centuries ago when our ancestors sold their own brothers as slaves for a handful of tobacco.
Oh, I weep for Africa.
With the way they are conceding goals, I don’t think they can go far in this tournament
To think I was thinking Cameroon was going to struggle in this Afcon with a new team that excluded veterans like Vincent Abubakar and Andre Onana, plus a new coach. They’re playing with so much chemistry and are a lot stronger than their 2023 Afcon squad. Etoo must be glad with his unpopular reschuffling.
The problem of conceding goals stems from our midfield which is not combative enough. Like the coach to play 2 Dm in the knockout phase with Dele bashirum as the no 10 to complete a 3 man midfield in 4:3; 3 formation. That way we can score more with a clean sheet. Iwobi is good but should come from bench when intensity has dropped cos of his poor making skills
No way, iwobi is a starter in any formation, do u watch that dude level of passes ? Yes 2 DM like against Tunisia shd be the way forward but iwobi gat play right in front of the DM and behind strikers.
Lol. Iwobi start from the bench? From Rohr to Eguavoen to Paseiro and now Chelle, none of them have dared to do that. He’s about the only guaranteed starter in the first 11.
So it’s either that he has a powerful godfather, or he’s the best in his position for 5 years plus now. And we know 5 different coaches can’t all bow to a godfather.
We can erase the penalty goal we conceded against Tunisia. Our players can’t be blamed for a penalty that should never have been.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9wlmwabpNo
Watch from 11:37.
The penalty shout against the Brentford defender who clearly handled the ball in the box was ignored.
If only this ref was at the center in our game against Tunisia!
I’ve seen numerous other instances like this where the ball was unintentionally handled in the box and the ref waved it off.
The ball-to-hand rules should be made crystal clear, so there is no confusion.
It would appear that our referee was following different rules compared to the Premier league, looool!
You’re spot on, @Dr. Drey. More grace. I was already drafting a comment, but yours captured the central issue with clarity.
Additionally, from a technical standpoint, the December/January AFCON remains the most defensible window. It falls squarely within the competitive phase of the club season, ensuring players arrive match-fit, tactically calibrated, and physically conditioned through sustained high-level minutes. This largely explains why the current tournament has maintained intensity and acceptable technical standards.
The real issue is the alternative CAF is being pushed toward. Had this AFCON been staged in the off-season, the structural consequences would have been predictable: players reporting after prolonged inactivity, compressed reconditioning cycles, compromised tactical preparation, reduced match intensity, and an increased incidence of non-contact injuries linked to inadequate load management.
The deeper problem, however, is governance. CAF’s calendar instability is not driven by African football realities but by external pressures—FIFA alignment, UEFA convenience, and commercial interests tied to European leagues. In yielding to these forces, CAF risks designing Africa’s flagship tournament around foreign schedules rather than the continent’s climatic, logistical, and sporting realities. An African competition must be optimised for African conditions first; global accommodation should be secondary, not determinative.
“……Had this AFCON been staged in the off-season, the structural consequences would have been predictable: players reporting after prolonged inactivity, compressed reconditioning cycles, compromised tactical preparation, reduced match intensity, and an increased incidence of non-contact injuries linked to inadequate load management…..”
But the World Cup, Euros, COPA America, AFC, and CONCACAF Cups are all played in the off-season, and their quality, technical standards, or intensity have never been blighted by any of what you have listed above.
Optimised conditions for an African tournament would be at a time when nations can have 2-3 week training camp, fair weather conditions for the players (spring/early summer weather), high scouting/transfer prospect and an undivided global viewership. And there is no better period than the off-season.
As for the cycle length, anything short of a 2-year cycle should be considered a crime against humanity. There’s just a lot at stake across several value chains that starving them of inflows for as long as 4 years should never even come to the minds of CAF leadership if they arent compromised.
dr drey, the reason why they shifted it to be 4yr was bcause caf nations league that will be held every yr