Chelle hails Christantus Uche’s impact, demands more from Super Eagles

Super Eagles coach Eric Chelle singled out Getafe star Christantus Uche for praise following his impactful substitute appearance against Jamaica, Soccernet.ng reports.

The Nigeria national team secured a hard-fought win over the Reggae Boyz in the 2025 Unity Cup final at the Gtech Stadium.

Uche, who arrived at camp late, came on as a substitute and quickly made an impact, replacing Rangers FC forward Cyriel Dessers.

Speaking after the game, as observed by Soccernet.ng, the Malian tactician saluted Uche's display and gave a thumbs-up to his performance.

“Christantus Uche made a great impact coming onto the pitch. I’m very happy with his performance. He deserves to be in the Nigeria team,” Chelle said.

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Despite the glowing praise for Uche, Chelle acknowledged the strong competition for attacking positions in the squad.

“This team has a lot of good strikers and wingers. It’s difficult to pick because we have many great players,” he noted.

The former head coach of the Malian national team also stressed the need for collective growth among the players.

“The most important thing for me is that we play together — both in defence and offence. We need to improve all the time, mentally and physically. We must become warriors on the pitch,” Chelle added.

As the Super Eagles prepare to tackle Russia in the coming days, Chelle touched on the areas requiring attention ahead of Nigeria’s upcoming fixtures.

“We need to improve technically, tactically, and physically. There’s a lot of work ahead, but the best thing is the players want to do that.”

With Uche and other young players showing promise, Chelle is expected to face more selection dilemmas as the Super Eagles prepare for the challenges ahead.