Nigeria’s U-23 Eagles head coach Imama Amapakabo is relying on talented midfielder Kelechi Nwakali to help his team go past Sudan in Tuesday’s U-23 Africa Cup of Nations, second leg, final qualifying round fixture at the Stephen Keshi Stadium, Asaba, reports Completesports.com.
Nigeria trail 1-0 from the first leg and will need to score at least two goals without conceding to secure a berth at Egypt 2019 U-23 AFCON.
Nwakali who played a key role in the first round win against Libya, missed the first leg and only linked up with his teammates in Asaba camp on Sunday.
And Imama believes his presence will cause problems for the Sudanese in the game.
”Kelechi missed the first leg in Omdurman because he was sorting some contractual issues at his new club. We are happy he is with us here in Asaba, and I believe his presence on the pitch will be a big worry for the Sudanese,” Imama told reporters after the team’s training session on Monday.
It is the second time Nigeria will need to overcome an away deficit in the qualifiers after having to come back from 2-0 loss to Libya in the previous round.
The gaffer states that his players are firmly focused on the task at hand and are determined to scale through the hurdle.
“We have to keep our heads up. We trail by 1-0, but we have a team that can overturn that and qualify for the main competition, ” Amapakabo said.
“We lost concentration in the 42nd minute of the game and the Sudanese scored with their only second shot of the game. We had our chances which we failed to convert. ”
By Adeboye Amosu
8 Comments
dont forget what the Sudanesse U20 in 2017 did to us at Lagos Coach
Why do Nigerian always allow sentiment to overide their judgement, engaging in uneccesarry pressure.
A good coach does not count on the individual skills of a single player for victory. Rather, he banks on teamwork. Hmmmmmm…. Nigerian coaches, still way off.
Osimhen and Chukwueze should have been here and not in the SE friendly . God forbid we fail to Qualify , it will be a self inflicted defeat’
This wat happen wen u have administrators that did slot in to pass exams. 3 goals scorer. Left to play awoof game. Brazil agentina fa will not allow. This.
Some Nigerians can’t help but pronounce Olympics as ORLU-MPICS, as if the games originated in the city of Orlu in Imo State. I have a friend who for years has done this. The more I try to correct him, the more he sticks to his guns. For him, it is ORLU-MPICS. Ce finis. Anyway, I hope we don’t do the old routine of blasting self in the foot by failing to make it to OLY, or ORLU, if you prefer. With all the young talents at our disposal, it would be a monumental disaster. Like other major tournaments, players can showcase their abilities and get noticed by clubs around the world. So failure to qualify hurts the players a lot more than it hurts us the fans. Fortunately, based on the way the game went in Sudan, there is basis for optimism that our boys can overturn the deficit at home. Let’s hope it works out.
I also hope that the stadium is match ready! Beating the Sudanese team is enough of a challenge. No need to make it harder by having our boys play on a poor surface!
Why is putting away chances by our strikers a recurrent problem with our national teams, ask AIGBOGUN AGAIN.