Kelechi Nwakali says the Olympic Eagles are in Egypt to successfully defend the U-23 Africa Cup of Nations title Nigeria won in Senegal four years ago, reports Completesports.com.
Imama Amapakabo’s charges are among the eight teams that will compete at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations starting next weekend in Cairo, Egypt.
The defending champions will compete in Group B along with Cote d’lvoire, Zambia and South Africa.
”I believe the team is ready, the mindset is to win the competition and pick the Olympic ticket,” Nwakali stated in a short video interview posted on the Youtube channel of the Nigeria Football Federation.
“We have a good blend in the team. We have a lot of foreign-based players in the team, as well as players based here in Nigeria. We just have to prepare well for the competition.
“Also, as defending champions that is a big motivation for us to try and win the competition again.
“Cote d’l voice, South Africa and Zambia are no pushovers, but we have what it takes to make it from the group.
“We are not going to put pressure on ourselves. We are going to take each game as they come, but the objective is to pick Olympic ticket and win the competition.”
Nigeria’s first match of the campaign is against Cote d’Ivoire on Sunday, 9th November at the Al Salaam Stadium, Cairo
The top three teams in the competition will qualify to represent Africa in the Men’s Football Tournament of the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.
By Adeboye Amosu
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COMMENTS
Nov 9th is a Saturday, not Sunday, you complete sport journalist should show some respect to readers, the errors are unreasonable and avoidable most of the time, only that there is no diligence and respect for readers… Please, correct this