The three-time African champions will be among the favourites to lift the title in Ivory Coast
Super Eagles defender Bruno Onyemaechi has pointed out two factors crucial to Nigeria's hopes of winning the 2023 CAF Africa Cup of Nations in Cote d’Ivoire, Soccernet.ng reports.
Nigeria will head to the Ivory Coast in January with high hopes of claiming a fourth continental trophy and the first since 2013.
The three-time AFCON winners will join defending champions Senegal, hosts Ivory Coast, World Cup semifinalists Morocco, Egypt, Algeria, and Cameroon as the favourites to be crowned champions.
In Napoli's Victor Osimhen, Bayer Leverkusen's Victor Boniface, OGC Nice's Terem Moffi, and Nottingham Forest's Taiwo Awoniyi, the Super Eagles boast one of the world's finest attacking lineups.
The Eagles should have been drawn in Group A, where they should have it easy against the Elephants of Cote d’Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, and Guinea-Bissau. Things could get tricky from the knockout stage, though.
Still, Nigerian left-back Onyemaechi is convinced that the Eagles could go all the way if they embrace the twin factors of keeping maximum focus and maintaining group positivity.
“You can’t predict football, things are getting tougher every day,” the Boavista full-back told Complete Sports.
“There are no small countries anymore. I believe in the team. If we keep focus and maintain positivity in camp, then we can win the trophy.”
The Super Eagles are on a good run in all competitions after beating Guinea-Bissau, Sao Tome and Principe, and Mozambique while picking up a draw against Saudi Arabia.
Highlighting th team's recent successes, Onyemaechi added, “We are moving in the right direction at the moment.
“We have won three of our last four games, which is good for our confidence. I believe we will be ready to compete and give our best in Cote d’Ivoire next year.”
Nigeria won the AFCON for the first time in 1980 on home soil and later lifted the trophy in 1994 in Tunisia and at South Africa 2013.
The Super Eagles' adventure at the 2023 AFCON will kick off with a meeting with Equatorial Guinea at the Alhassan Quattara Stadium on January 14.
Nigeria's matchday two fixture four days later will be a West African derby with hosts Cote d’Ivoire, followed by a final group stage clash against the Djurtus of Guinea-Bissau on January 22.
