“Come home with something” – AFCON 2013 winner tells Super Eagles ahead of third-place clash against Egypt

The Super Eagles of Nigeria will play against the Pharaohs of Egypt at Stade Mohammed V, Casablanca, in the AFCON 2025 third-place game, Soccernet.ng reports.

AFCON 2013 winner Ogenyi Onazi has responded to Nigeria's loss to Morocco, claiming he understands the dressing room might be deflated, but also warned that returning home without the bronze medal would be chaos.

A 19-year-old Onazi debuted for the Green and Whites under the late Stephen Keshi in 2012, before going on to play five games during the AFCON tournament in South Africa a year later.

Partnering with Sunday Mba and John Obi Mikel in the Super Eagles midfield, the former Lazio man played a key role in Nigeria's AFCON 2013 triumph

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AFCON: Onazi tells Super Eagles to go for bronze

Eric Chelle's men will be without Calvin Bassey in their final game in Morocco. Still, Onazi urged the Nigerian players to use the pain from the loss to Morocco as fuel against Hossam Hassan's men.

“I think it's a very difficult moment right now, but we have to move on,” the 33-year-old said on the Bet9ja game on podcast.

“Before they got to this stage, I thought this team would give us something to console ourselves for missing out on the World Cup, but unfortunately, it ended this way.

“They did what they needed to do, but we just have to settle in for the third-place game. They have no other choice; we need to come home with something.

“Anywhere the motivation will come from, just fire yourself up because you need to get that, and at this point, everyone is looking at them and saying, ‘ What can we do?

“It's a must-win game for us, but it's not an opportunity for me to judge the coach. I don't have an assessment on him; he's had a good run of results.

“We're already heartbroken, so we must leave with something,” the Jos-born Nigerian concluded, tipping the Super Eagles to win by a 3-0 scoreline.

Egypt suffered their first AFCON semi-final defeat since 1974 to Senegal, and will be looking for a respite against Nigeria, particularly since it could be Mohamed Salah's final display on the African stage.