Nigeria head coach Eric Chelle has admitted he dreams of a dominant, high-scoring victory as the Super Eagles prepare to face Mozambique in Monday night’s Africa Cup of Nations last-16 clash in Morocco, Soccernet.ng reports.
This is even as the former Mali coach acknowledged the growing pressure that comes with leading the Super Eagles, one of the continent’s most decorated teams.
The Super Eagles, three-time AFCON champions and winners of Group C, go into the knockout tie as clear favourites. Yet Mozambique’s historic run to the round of 16 has ensured the encounter at the Stade de Fes is anything but routine.
Mozambique reached the knockout phase of the Africa Cup of Nations for the first time after recording their maiden AFCON victory, a dramatic 3-2 win over Gabon, and pushing both Cameroon and hosts Côte d’Ivoire to narrow defeats. With a quarter-final place now in sight, they have spoken openly about their determination to upset Nigeria.
Eric Chelle, however, insists his ambition for the Super Eagles goes far beyond simply progressing.
“My dream is to win with four or five goals and have 80 per cent of possession, that is the perfection I dream of,” Chelle said.
“But this is the AFCON… Mozambique is a great team but they have a lot of things to improve on, just like us and that's why we work hard during our training.”
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Pressure on Eric Chelle and lessons from the past
The Round of 16 meeting has placed the Franco-Malian coach under intense scrutiny, with memories still fresh of Nigeria’s shock exit at the same stage of the 2021 tournament in Cameroon, where the Super Eagles won all three group games before losing 1-0 to Tunisia.
Chelle confirmed that pressure has followed him since his appointment in 2025, though he stressed it is driven internally rather than by expectations from the Nigeria Football Federation.
“Since I took this job I have been under pressure. This is not a question about the NFF, this is a question about the official, the group, and me,” he said.
“Game after game we want to be ambitious. We are thinking about the next game.”
Despite the weight of expectation, Chelle believes his squad remains composed, united and focused solely on Mozambique.
“We want to win the next game. If God gives us the chance to go to the quarterfinal, we will think about the quarterfinal,” he added.
“But now we think about this game against Mozambique and for sure we want to win this game.”
Chelle has also dismissed comparisons with previous tournaments, insisting his team is grounded in the present.
“I don't focus on what happened before. Like I said every time, we are focused on what happens day after day,” he said.
“We are focused on our training session, we are focused on the life of the group, we are focused on the players' behaviour, and we are focused on us.”
Nigeria are unbeaten in five previous meetings with Mozambique, including a 3-0 AFCON win in 2010 and a 3-2 friendly victory in October 2023. But with history offering no guarantees, Chelle’s message is clear: preparation, discipline and ambition must align if the Super Eagles are to avoid another painful early exit.
Kick-off is at 20:00 local time (19:00 GMT) on 5 January.
