Head coach of the Libyan National football team, Nasser Al-Hadiri, has revealed the Super Eagles will meet an improved team when both sides clash this evening, Soccernet.ng reports.
The Libyans are without a win in their last three games against the Super Eagles, with Nigeria winning 1-0, 4-0 and 3-2 respectively. However, their new coach claims times have changed and he revealed he's confident in his team's abilities.
Speaking at his pre-match conference in Uyo yesterday, the former Libya assistant coach mentioned his team have improved from their last game against the three-time AFCON winners.
“We lost 4-0 here before, but we’ve returned to improve our game. This being my first match doesn’t put pressure on me. The pressure is on Nigeria. We don’t stand a chance to win it here but when we get to Libya we will make sure to correct our errors and have a very good result at home. We must aim for victory,” Al-Hadiri said in quotes revealed by Brila.
Al-Hadiri previously served as Libya's assistant coach under Spanish coach Javier Clemente in 2014, has since built a solid coaching reputation.
He took over as the team's head coach after Serbian manager, Milutin Sredojević, was dismissed after Libya’s 2-1 loss to Gernot Rohr's Benin in last month, and is hopeful for a bright start this evening.
“Any coach coming from assistant to be the head, has nothing to worry about because he already has the experience. Nigeria national team is a very big team so I’m not feeling the pressure of coming from the assistant coach to be the head coach. Saudi Arabia in the world cup won the Argentina national team even with Messi and all their best players, Saudi Arabia won them. So we can pull out a surprise here,” he concluded.
Kick-off time for Nigeria’s clash against Libya this evening is slated for 5:00pm WAT. The game will be played at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium in Uyo, Akwa Ibom. The second leg will be played on Tuesday at the Martyrs of February Stadium, Benghazi, Libya.
