Super Eagles will be hoping to revive their Africa Cup of Nations ambition as the team face the Pirates of Seychelles at the Stade Linite on the Mahe island in Victoria today in a must-win encounter.
The Three-time Africa champions will be without captain and Super Eagles midfielder, Mikel Obi, William Troost-Ekong, Ebuehi and Ola Aina for today’s crucial game but team’s manager, Gernot Rohr have called up 24 players that are capable of getting the job done.
Nigeria since winning the 2013 AFCON have failed to qualify for the two subsequent editions in 2015 and 2017.
The Eagles lost 0-2 to South Africa in Uyo on June 10, 2017. A day earlier, the Pirates were poleaxed 5-1 by Libya’s Mediterranean Knights at the Stade Chedly Zouiten in Tunisia’s capital.
Presently, Libya’s Knights top the Group E, followed by South Africa’s Bafana Bafana, with the Eagles in third place and the Pirates bottom.
Meanwhile, Rohr has assured Nigerians that the Super Eagles would pick nothing but the three points in Seychelles today.
“Everyone realizes the importance of this match. We are currently number three in our group and that position does not befit Super Eagles of Nigeria,” Rohr told thenff.com.
“It is not good for us because it is outside the qualification range.
“The players know this. They know that on Saturday they have to show character to put our campaign back on track with a good result.”
“We are not here on vacation. We are here for serious business,” he stated.
“We have a young, ambitious team and Nigeria has a better pedigree in the game of football than Seychelles. But we must not underrate them in any way or take things for granted.
