Ahead of Saturday’s 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against South Africa in Johannesburg, players and technical crew of the Super Eagles will be departing the shores of the country today (Thursday) with a promise that they will pick the maximum point.
Having lost their opening fixture 2-0 against South Africa in Uyo, the three-time Africa champion bounced back to winning ways by beating Seychelles 3-0, Libya 4-0 and 3-2 in the reverse fixture to top the group on nine points.
On the other hand, South Africa have eight points after beating Nigeria 2-0, drawing Libya 0-0, before earning four points against Seychelles in a double-header fixture.
Victory for South Africa will book their place at next year’s showpiece in Cameroon, while a draw could be enough for both Nigeria and South Africa barring Libya fail to beat Seychelles in Victoria.
Meanwhile, Super Eagles technical adviser, Gernot Rohr has revealed that he has prepared enough to pick the three points in Johannesburg that would guarantee their qualification to the bi-annual tournament in Cameroon.
“Our mission in Johannesburg is simple: qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations. We are not thinking of anything else. We want the ticket in our pocket before the final matchday,” Rohr said in Asaba on Tuesday evening.
In the words of Oghenekharo Etebo; ”After our away win in Libya, the task has been made less complicated, a win or a draw gets us qualified and I am sure we will get that. ‘As you can see we are taking the match very seriously, we all made sure we got back to camp on time and confidence in the team is high.”
According to Kelechi Iheanacho, ”We are much more better now than we were as of the time we played them in the first leg so I am confident we will get a win”