Super Eagles head coach Eric Chelle says his players are motivated and ambitious as Nigeria prepares to open its 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying campaign against Madagascar.
Nigeria will host Madagascar at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium in Uyo on Friday, September 25, with kick off scheduled for 5pm Nigerian time.
Speaking at his pre-match press conference, Eric Chelle stressed the need for his players to show intensity and ambition from the opening whistle.
“For me, this is the best team in Africa. We are motivated. The first task is to give the signal to every country to know who Nigeria is.
“We have very good players, they understand everything. It’s not about winning or losing, it’s about the state of mind.
“I want my players to be aggressive on the pitch, to put in a lot of intensity.
“We have to be ambitious, forget what happened last year, and if we do that, we can hope to win every game.”
Eric Chelle prepares for a tough Madagascar test
Eric Chelle also addressed the players who will miss the opening qualifier through injury. Victor Osimhen, Alhassan Yusuf and Dele Bashiru are among those unavailable.
“We have a lot of injured players. Victor Osimhen, Alhassan Yusuf, Dele-Bashiru, but it’s not a problem for us. We are ready; it’ll be difficult because Madagascar is a big team.
“It’ll be a fight, they defeated Nigeria in 2019.”
The Super Eagles coach also spoke about the pressure surrounding the team as the Nigeria Football Federation continues its reforms.
Rather than allowing the situation to distract his players, Chelle said the squad must focus on the task ahead.
“We don’t manage the pressure. We try to deal with the pressure, which is our job.
“The pressure is part of the job, but we want to stay focused on our team, our group. The qualifiers start tomorrow; we have to be ready, first for the team, and then for the country.
“There’s a big game tomorrow, we’ve had the last training session, we’re prepared.”
Nigeria will hope to begin Group L with a victory when Madagascar arrive in Uyo on Friday.
The Super Eagles will then travel to Guinea Bissau for their second qualifier on September 29 as Chelle looks to guide Nigeria towards the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations.
