Shola Adelani of Ikorodu United has said he and his home-based Super Eagles teammate would do everything possible to win the 2024 Africa Nations Championship (CHAN) co-hosted by Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.
The home-based Eagles are in Group D alongside champions Senegal, Congo and Sudan.
Coach Eric Chelle’s side will begin their campaign against Senegal on August 5, on August 12 they will face Sudan before ending the group phase against Congo on August 19.
Speaking ahead of the tournament, Adelani talked about what is expected of them by Chelle.
“It’s a dream come true playing for Nigeria national team and to the coach, like he always say if you are not a warrior you can’t play football so you must be like a lion to play under him,” Adelani said in an international with the team’s media.
“I like the coach because he told me that when I have the ball I should go one on one even if you lose the ball it’s not a problem, just go one on one.
“I know the boys are ready because they’ve passed through series of training and even when we make mistakes the coach always make us know that mistake is part of football and one just have to improve more and I know if the competition start we will give our all to win the CHAN.”
Also giving his thoughts about the CHAN was Remo Stars’ Adedayo Olamilekan, who expressed his delight for making the final squad.
“At U-17 and U-23 I was dropped but I’m here now and the coach said he has the believe in me that I can do it and in terms of the style of play it was part of the reason he included me in the final list.
“I was so happy because it’s my performance that brought me to the CHAN and for the coach, honestly I’ve never met this type of coach in my life, he’s someone who wants intensity, aggression, never-say-die, he just wants you to give it all.
“We always hold meeting concerning the CHAN, the group and our aim is to go there and give our all, we don’t want second or third, we want the gold, that is our target and we will surely achieve it.”
Meanwhile, the home-based Eagles concluded their final training ahead of their second friendly against Zanzibar on Thursday evening.
The first encounter between both teams, which was played on Monday ended 0-0.
About CHAN
CHAN is a biennial African association football tournament organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) since 2009 and first announced in September 2007. The participating teams must consist of players playing in their national league competitions.
The tournament began life in 2009 with eight teams, which was doubled for the second edition up until the 6th and is currently contested by 18 teams since the 2022 edition.
Since the 2014 edition, matches of every edition of this tournament from qualification to the final will be computed to calculate the forthcoming FIFA World Rankings following its conclusion, which CAF exclaimed at the time as an important step for the competition’s development.
Home-Based Super Eagles CHAN Debut
Nigeria’s home-based Super Eagles made it’s debut at the CHAN in the 2014 edition held in South Africa.
Under the tutelage of late Stephen Keshi, the team reached the semi-finals and lost to Ghana on penalties, before beating Zimbabwe 1-0 in the third-place match.
Runners-up Finish At CHAN 2018
The last time the the CHAN featured at the CHAN was at the 2018 tournament in Morocco.
The team went all the way to the final but lost 4-0 to the Atlas Lions B side.
By James Agberebi
