Super Eagles stars are confident that they can hold their own against any opponents who will be pitted against them when the 2019 AFCON draw holds in Egypt on Friday, Completesports.com reports.
Nigeria qualified for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations after winning Group E with 13 points. South Africa finished second in the group on 12 points to also qualify. Libya and Seychelles placed third (7 points) and fourth (one) respectively and missed the party billed for Egypt.
The Super Eagles are staging a comeback to the AFCON finals after missing out on the previous two editions.
The Gernot Rohr’s men have been pooled in Pot 1 along with Egypt, Cameroon, Senegal Tunisia and
Morocco as the seeded teams.
Speaking with Completesports.com, Hapoel Beer Sheva midfielder John Ogu assures the team will be well prepared to face any opponents at the tournament.
“Just as I’m eager to feature for my country at the tournament so are my teammates as well,” Ogu told Completesports.com.
“We have a team that can compete with best on the continent, so we just pray and hope for a good draw like every other team will do.”
Odion Ighalo who finished as the top scorer for the Super Eagles during the 2019 AFCON qualifiers notes that there is no easy draw, insisting the 2013 AFCON winners will be prepared to face any team.
“There is no easy draw, we just have to be prepared to face anyone and take each game as it comes, but we remain hopeful,” Ighalo said.
Super Eagles right-back, Abdullahi Shehu, says the team is not scared of any team.
“We are looking forward to the draw. Don’t forget we are Nigeria. We are ready for any opponents, so let’s see what will happen,” he told Completesports.com.
HJK Helsinki of Finland defender, Elderson Echiejile who is hopeful of a recall to the team ahead of the tournament in Egypt tasks his teammates to be ready to to win for Nigeria.
“The team is in high spirit and we are ready to compete. We just have to stay focused on achieving our set targets,” Echiejile reiterates.
Meanwhile, the draw ceremony for the 32nd Africa Cup of Nations finals will hold in Cairo, Egypt on Friday evening and it is scheduled to take place behind the famous Gaza Pyramids as from 6pm GMT (7pm Nigerian time).
The 32nd Africa Cup of Nations will hold from 21st June to 19th July 2019, in six venues: Cairo International Stadium; Borg El-Arab Stadium, Alexandria; Suez Stadium; Air Defence Stadium; Ismailia Stadium and; Al Salam Stadium.
By Johnny Edward
7 Comments
I think our group may look like this:
Ivory coast
Nigeria
Guinea-Bissau
Tanzania.
So CAF’s brain finally reset and they put Nigeria in Pot 1 where we belong?
Anyway, I’m confident of the Super Eagles’s chances at this Afcon as I think we currently have the best collection of talents in Africa, closely followed by Morocco and maybe Ghana.
Senegal, CIV, Egypt may be contenders too but I see them as mostly lone-star teams (you know who).
Having said that, I actually pray for some pairings tomorrow. They are Ghana (from Pot 2), South Africa (from Pot 3) and Angola (from Pot 4). Why?
Ghana – We need to tell the story of this fierce West African derby properly. And there’s no better time than now. Cameroun has been humbled, next up is Ghana.
South Africa – This could have been settled at the last meeting in their country, but for some strange and dubious reasons, the ref scuttled it.
Plus DSTV and SuperSport won’t stop showing the fluke 2-0 win against SE in Uyo everyday. It’s killing! We need to force them to and halt the growing arrogance of their fans and coaches (especially Stuart Baxter and Peter Mosimane) with a resounding beating in Egypt.A smoking hot humble pie for the loud mouths. Hahaha.
Angola – No reason really. But can I ever forget why we missed the 2006 World Cup in Germany? A stupid head-to-head rule in favor of a team with a far inferior goals stats.
So, Providence, please make it GROUP B: Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa, Angola. Let’s start on a bang! #Soar Super Eagles.
Correction! Senegal is not a one-man team. They are the most complete team in Africa. Koulibaly – one of the world’s best defenders, Gueye of Everton, Kouyate of Crystal Palace, Balde of Inter Milan & of course Sane etc. They have quality all over. However, they always seem to come up short in the final stages.
Sorry, i mean to say Mauritania not Tanzania
Oga Shehu and Elderson are you two sure of making the team because two of you are not national team standard full backs.
The only draw Nigeria should pray not to happen is have Algeria and South Africa
Those would even be the best to have. We’ll smash both of them. Don’t mind the recent results against South Africa, in Johannesburg we were far superior & they needed officiating mistakes to avoid defeat. Super Eagles in competition mode is not good for any African team.