The Federal Government of Nigeria, through the Ministry of Youth and Sports Development, on Tuesday night sent forth the Super Eagles to the Africa Cup of Nations tournament in Cameroon with a dinner.
The well attended event was held at the Transcorp Hilton hotel, Abuja.
The Minister of State for Finance, Budget and National Planning, Prince Clem Agba, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Youth and Sports Development, Alhaji Ismail Abubakar, the Director of Federations and Elite Athletes Development(FEAD), Dr Simon Ebhojiaye, Nigeria Football Federation(NFF)2nd Vice President, Alhaji Shehu Dikko, NFF General Secretary, Dr Mohammed Sanusi and board members, Alhaji Ibrahim Gusau and Yahaya Kwande were in attendance.
Also at the event were the Special Adviser to the Honourable Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Mr Femi Adeagbo, NFF Director of Communications, Ademola Olajire and NFF Director of Finance.
The Honourable Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Sunday Dare in his address to the team, read by Prince Clem Agba, said the Super Eagles are being sent forth as Nigerian ambassadors and worthy representatives to Cameroon as the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations tournament begins in a few days.
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According to him, “Mr. President believes this Super Eagles squad has the skills and talents to excel at the AFCON in Cameroon and over 200 million Nigerians are fully behind you.
“Three times we have been Champions of Africa by winning the Africa Cup of Nations(AFCON), that was in 1980, 1994 and 2013, and many other times we have ended as losing finalists and bronze medalists but this time around we want you to strike gold in Cameroon on the 6th of February, 2022 when the tournament’s final match will be played.
“We have followed your preparations for this tournament and have seen the challenges that you have faced with the late release from your clubs, the Covid 19 protocols, injuries and other factors, we urge you not to be deterred by these and rather see these obstacles as stepping stones to your success and glory. We are also appealing to you to demonstrate that Nigerian spirit of determination, focus, resilience, discipline and conquest on and off the pitch.”
Dare also urged the players to have self belief and trust in the coaching crew led by Augustine Eguavoen.
“You have to believe in yourselves, be confident in your own abilities and show trust in your coaches and officials.
“As you carry the hopes and aspirations of millions of Nigerians, be assured of the support of the Federal Government.
“Be patriotic, defend the green and white of Nigeria, fight for her pride and honour like the true soldiers and warriors that you are and this nation will
celebrate you further upon your return,” The Minister added.
In his own remarks, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Youth and Sports Development, Alhaji Ismail Abubakar thanked the Super Eagles for their patriotism and said the dinner was the Ministry’s ‘little’ effort at encouraging them to giving their best and excelling at the biennial continental football showpiece.
Nigeria’s campaign in Cameroon begins on the 11th of January, 2022 against Egypt in Garoua.
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COMMENTS
A young and energetic team filled with hungry players who want to make name for themselves……..This kind of team is the dream of any coach who knows what he is doing…….. Train them explore their strength and unleash them on opponents
We are behind you our SE, it is gold or nothing. God bless you all.
Good luck Super Eagles.
This Afcon will be something else.
All the teams want to win it.
Sudan have been playing friendlies all over the place.
Ethiopia are there looking to make an impact.
Sierra Leone coach received death threats over team selection.
Guinea president gave their squad a tongue in cheek ultimatum – win the cup, or return all the monies spent on you.
Cote D’Ivoire will be there for the trophy, to appease their fans for the world cup disappointment.
Algeria, Morocco, Egypt, Senegal are all coming as favourites. For each of them, it’s the cup or nothing.
Ghana have not won the trophy in 40 years. They will be coming for it at all costs.
Cameroon the hosts are determined to win it as well.
Mali have never won it before in their history. They have a fantastic team now, and will fancy their chances.
Burkina Faso came close in 2013, but lost to Nigeria in the final. They have a strong squad now, and will be looking to get it right this year.
And then you have Nigeria, with the demands and expectations of the most populous black nation on the planet.
Let the games begin!
If Ghana can beat morroco and Cote voire beat Cameron and Egypt beat Algeria and Mali . Nigeria wil win the cup is they can be guinea
Lol
How much was budgeted for this “send forth” party at a time when Nigeria is still owing the former coach salary and players allowance areas?
If
And 1 drunkard claimed it will be far easier to win a 24 team tournament than winning an 8 team tournament……LMAOooo…in defiance of every law of probability and permutation currently existing in mathematics…..LMAOooo.
This AFCON will be FIRE…! I cant wait for the party to begin.
Let the best and most deserving team win. Luckily VAR will be on the Menu from the very 1st game that will be served.
@Dr.Drey… It will be nice to know your new year resolution.
Last I read in December from you… you were still fuming that Rohr was was ejected from his stool and you were projecting failure for Super Eagles and Nigeria.
You excited about our AFCON participation now? The gods must be thanked for this new Drey… Lol.
Meanwhile any update on Ndah injury? Guy you must update house… We never forget!!!
Hahahaha…are you sure this was what you wanted to type initially in response to my comment or a tactical maneuver from the obvious…..LMAOOo…bcos there is ZERO nexus or logical inclination as usual, between this your whataboutery and my comment or pompei’s above.
Pls show us which part of my comment above refers to “our participation” at AFCON…?
Eyaa…..oma se o. One would have thought a man who was slapped and battered blue and black for every lie that proceeded from his mouth last year would walk into a new year with a resolve to quit his filthy ways. Alas, filthy habits die hard, more so filthy habits gotten from birth.
The last time we checked, the only person who projected failure for the SE is one certain jimmyball….”Let us fail with our own”.
Expectation is the mother of disappointment, even your owns know deep within them they would be lucky to play 5 matches at this AFCON.
Like I said before, this AFCON will be FIRE…! I cant wait for the party to begin….! Those who have comprehension deficiency should go get packs of 1000mg Vitamin C to cure their deficiency.
Contact your owns for injury updates on Ndah. They were the ones who rather chose to invite an injured SA league standard player ahead of fit and firing Bundesliga and SPL rated players in the first place. Now they are sweating even in between their toes over Awaziem’s fitness…..LMAOOooooo.
Na sidon look we dey.
Good luck guys go and bring the cup home once again
_ Are Super Eagles Genuine Contenders?_
As the Federal Government gingers the team and butters them up for the mammoth tasks awaiting them in Cameroon, are we fans right to consider the Super Eagles genuine title contenders for the 33rd Africa Cup of Nations?
Now we have about 86% of the players in camp, it is full steam ahead. For me, I am expecting no less than 5 meaningful and memorable matches from the Super Eagles in this tournament. Anything beyond that is Dreamland.
The other teams in the tournament are no pushovers. When you have an outfit like Guinea having a player from Liverpool with Senegal boasting of mongul Mane and Morocco parading a classy collection of players, then you know the Super Eagles have their work cut out to lift the trophy.
_ What Are The Odds? _
If we qualify as second from our group, we face the huge task of overcoming Algeria or Ivory Coast in the second round. With “Belmadi’s Boy” no longer in the helm, will Eguavoen become “Belmadi’s Bully” if we were to meet Algeria?
As if that wasn’t worse enough, we will then potentially have Morocco in wait in the quarter final if Eguavoen manages to banish the ghost of Belmadi to the afterlife in the second round.
All tantalising stuff.
However, if we manage to win our group, then a potentially favourable path awaits us in the knock out phases. We have any of Sierra Leone, Zimbabwe or Gambia in the second round and then have any of Ghana or Cameroon in the quarter final (what a match that would be eh?)
Men I can’t wait for hostilities to erupt next week! It promises to be a bumpy yet fascinating ride with the Super Eagles.
Rather counterintuitively, the upheavals and chaos that engulfed the Super Eagles preparations for this tournament has somewhat made it a far more intriguing and interesting competition for me to look forward to.
THE ANTICIPATION IS KILLING ME!!!
On an international radio programme I monitored yesterday, foreign observers, whilst acknowledging the wealth of promising players at our disposal, have already written off the Super Eagles as genuine title contenders. This is based on a number of factors including: sacking a coach so close to the tournament, potential distraction to the interim coaching crew caused by having the new foreign coach “observe” and perhaps interfere with the team, the absence of stalwarts like Osihmen and Balogun, and Nigeria’s overall shoddy management of football.
I LOVE IT!
The Super Eagles have, in the past, paid such prognosis the ultimate compliment by simply brushing it aside to produce some truly fascinating, scintillating and memorable moments in tournaments.
It doesn’t mean we have gone on to particularly win those tournament – we didn’t win the world cup in France ’98. It only means we went on to produce some truly spectacular moments that left its mark in the sands of time – the shock 3:2 capitulation of Spain in France ’98 has gone down the football folklore as one of Africa’s finest hour in world cup history (despite Nigeria’s negative pre-tournament predictions).
Where is Ejuke?
Where is Umar?
Where is Ndidi?
Where is Aribo?
And where is Okoye?
It is time to get up and be counted. It is time to take your place in the annals of Afcon cultural history.
If you don’t bring home the cup, then please give us some truly memorable moments that will live very long and stand the test of time. Moments that will make us revisit highlights of some matches over and over again with easily quotable sequences of action.
Come on Super Eagles!
Come on Super Eagles!
Good analysis Deo but let me ask you where did you get your fixture for second round because the two leading teams qualify automatically while best losers will be picked and that makes fixtures unpredictable. Four best losers will be picked to join the rest teams so how do you know Nigeria will either play Algeria if we come second and Algeria comes first , what of if Algeria comes first then meet one of the best losers . Let wait and see it’s too early to decide which country we are going to face now.
Hi R is R,
We are placed in Group D.
I think the winner of Group D meets any 3rd place participant from Groups BEF.
– In this a scenario, if we top our group, I predict we are likely to meet any of the potential 3rd place team: Zimbabwe (B), Sierra Leone (E) or Gambia (F) in the second round.
The second placed team in Group D is scheduled to meet the winner of Group E.
– I expect either Algeria or Ivory Coast to win group E in which case we meet any of them in the second round.
In the unlikely event of coming third in Group D, we will meet either the winner or Group A or winner of Group B.
– In this improbable scenario, I suspect we may face Cameroon or Senegal in the second round.
Please note, all these permutations are merely speculative.
God bless you, all of them even the ones on the list to send them forth. We are doing well, the core message is true Nigerians first. God bless Nigeria.
Soar like the Eagles you are and go bring the trophy home. All well meaning Nigerians are behind you. Up Super Eagles, up Nigeria.
God bless you, all of them even the ones on the list to send them forth. We are doing well, the core message is true Nigerians first. God bless Nigeria.
How much was budgeted for this “send forth” party at a time when Nigeria is still owing the former coach salary and players allowance areas?
Truly, Nigeria first @Friday with the Super Eagles eye. We need that to see Afcon gold as soon as it is brought to Abuja for proper reception. Good luck our Super Eagles!!!
Super Eagles is number 1 in Africa. Gold, Gold, think Gold our own SE. Good luck!
If the Senegalese don’t slip this time around they have their name written on the cup, surprise winners can be Egypt, Burkina Faso or Cameroon, teams to beware of are Nigeria Algeria, ivory Coast,Ghana especially Nigeria we have the hottest team in the tournament with good team work and aggression in play Egypt might find themselves defending in the first game good luck to the super eagles spread your wings and fly………
In terms of players profile and pedigree. This are my favorites below;
Senegal is the team to beat. They have players from AC Milan, Napoli, PSG, Liverpool, Bayern Munich and Chelsea. Others are playing at Leicester, Villarreal, Marseille, Nantes, Rennes, Watford etc all in the top 5 leagues. Unfortunately you can’t win the AFCON on paper. That Senegal had never won an AFCON is mind boggling. They made it to the final last time with most of the players going to this AFCON. They look very formidable now than they were in 2019. For me Senegal is the team to beat if the coach knows what he’s doing tactically and technically against other top teams on the continent.
Algeria will be next in my pecking order. Their performance at the Arab cup make them a firm favorite to retain their title. They don’t have as many players in big clubs like Senegal, but they do have players at ManCity, AC Milan, Napoli and Monaco. Others are in Villarreal, West-ham and a host of clubs in France, Belgium and the Netherlands.
Morocco is another hot favorite. They’ve won back to back CHAN titles, but haven’t won the AFCON since 1976. They have players from Barcelona, PSG and Sevilla. Others are scattered all over France and Belgium. As a team they’re very fluid and aggressive with penchant for the spectacular.
Cameroon will be favorite as host. Based on pedigree they could be on their way to winning their 6th AFCON diadem on home soil. Their only problem is that they shouldn’t encounter the SuperEagles in the knockout stages.
Nigeria is the team with the most medals in AFCON history. The current SuperEagles do not have players in big European clubs, but a substantial amount of our players ply their trades in top 5 European leagues. A young team that’d been playing together since the 2018 WorldCup. This will be their third major tournament. Reaching the Semis of the AFCON is practically our birthright. Can these team go one step better than they did in 2019?? Our first game against Mo Salah’s Egypt will determine how far the SuperEagles will go in Cameroon.
Egypt with Mo Salah will always have a chance. 85% ply their trade in the Egyptian league with African club powerhouses Al Haly and Zamalek. They’re a compact team under Carlos Quiroz and they will always believe winning the AFCON is their birthright.
Ivory Coast have players from ManU AC Milan, Ajax and the likes, but their glory days seems to have passed them by. However, they remain a formidable opponent anytime any day.
Tunisia also have a good team that can go far in Cameroon.
Ghana Black Stars haven’t won an AFCON since 1982. They will fancy their chances this time around with the returning Rajevac.
Starting from the knockout stages where heavy weights clashes will begin is when the boys will be separated from the boys. I can only wish my darling SuperEagles all the best. #FLY LIKE AN EAGLE INTO THE FUTURE. VAMOS ARRIBBA SUPEREAGLESSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!
**is when the men will be separated from the boys**
Well organized and attended. God bless Nigeria.
Dreamers 2022.
Cameroon won the cup on Nigerian soil in AFCON 2000, now is Nigeria’s opportunity to revenge and win the cup on Cameroonian soil in AFCON 2021.
God bless Nigeria!
CSN can you please update us on Ighalo issue. Is he coming? Am tired of this copy and paste news.
Oga Rohr wasn’t a good coach and I am so delighted that NFF sacked him.
The way he did to Dessers and Dennis Kai, what else did he want from them? Most especially Dessers?
We have what it takes to deliver in Cameroon but am not satisfied because of Dessers.
Imagine, having Dessers and Umar Sodiq together up front chai, that will be too strong for our opponents. For sure, Dessers won’t forgive Oga Rohr and Eguavoen for denying him this great opportunity to represent Nigeria.
Upon all Oga Rohr did to Onyekuru, my guy is on his way to another Afcon while his oppressor have bn fired. That is life for you that think you can just do any how.
What a coach. God bless Nigeria!!!